KYIV, Nov 1 – In the third quarter of this year, Ukrainian banks relaxed the standards for approving business loan applications for the first time since 2021, the balance of responses was -16.9% (from -100% to 100%), according to the results of a quarterly survey of financial institutions on lending conditions conducted by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) in July-September this year.

"Banks have relaxed credit standards for businesses for the first time since 2021 for all types of corporate loans, except for foreign currency loans. Credit standards for small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) loans, as well as for short-term and hryvnia loans, have been significantly relaxed. In the fourth quarter (2024), banks plan to relax credit standards for all types of corporate loans," the central bank said in a press release.