Assessment of the economic activity in the Polish banking sector during the COVID-19 pandemic on the basis of business tendency surveys

Abstract

One of the areas of the economy affected by the COVID-19 pandemic is the banking sector. The aim of the study presented in the article is to answer the questions: what was the perception of the economic situation in the banking sector in Poland during the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in the light of the results of business tendency surveys, and what determined its changes over time. The research was carried out on the basis of business tendency surveys conducted by Statistics Poland and Kantar Polska in the years 2004–2021. The conclusions were based on the trend-cycle component obtained by means of the X-13-ARIMA method. The analyses showed a negative relationship between the extent of the pandemic restrictions and the economic activity in banking, especially in the first phase of the crisis. Business tendency surveys show that during this crisis, the economic situation in the banking sector deteriorated more than during the financial crisis of 2008–2009. A relatively sharp decline as well as rapid rebounds were observed in the credit market, which caused its indicators to return in 2021 to the levels recorded before the outbreak of the pandemic. In the initial phase of the crisis, the economic downturn observed in the deposit market was not as sharp as in the credit market. On the other hand, however, the economic situation in the deposit market failed to improve significantly in 2021.