Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Consumer Credit Market in V4 Countries

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyse and assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the consumer credit market in the countries of the Visegrad Group (V4, i.e., the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary). There is no doubt that the pandemic has determined the amount of household debt due to consumer credit in the V4 group, and thus the question arises of how the pandemic affects the propensity of households to take out loans and the propensity to lend to them, and therefore whether it affects both the behaviour of borrowers and lenders. The study used the time series and multiple linear regression methods. The results of the study show that the Covid-19 pandemic has determined the level of household debt in the V4 group and is not indifferent to household decisions regarding taking out consumer loans. Although the research is preliminary, it has contributed to some extent to a better understanding of household indebtedness at a time of turbulence and instability resulting from health factors in V4 countries. In the future, this research will serve as the basis for future research on the phenomenon of household indebtedness in other countries.