03 March 2003 12:00am

Demand for loans rose across all sectors of lending in January 2003, with total credit rising by 1 per cent in the month, compared with a rise of 0.8 per cent in December 2002. The annual rate of growth increased to 11.9 per cent from 11.4 per cent.

• the rate of growth of housing credit increased over the month, reversing the deceleration in the rate of growth that emerged late in the spring. Housing credit increased 1.5 per cent in January 2003, compared with 1.3 per cent in December 2002, though the annual rate of growth dropped to 19.6 per cent in January from 19.8 per...