Dakar, Jul 31 (APS) - The average lending interest rate for loans in WAEMU member countries returned in 2018 to its "downward momentum" observed since 2010, after being stable in 2017, according to a new BCEAO report. “The cost of credit thus fell from 6.92% in 2017 to 6.79% in 2018, i.e. a decrease of 13 percentage points”, indicates the report on the conditions of banks in WAEMU-2018. It reports a drop in lending rates of 177 basis points over the past nine years. “The decline in the average lending rate is [observed] in most countries of the Union in 2018”, notes the report. He specifies that “the cost of credit has decreased in Niger (-45.7 basis points), Guinea Bissau (-20.1 basis points), Mali (-12.9 basis points), Benin (-10.2 basis points), Côte d'Ivoire (-9.0 basis points) and Senegal (-8.7 basis points)''. Conversely, add the authors of the report, an increase was noted in Burkina (+22.4 basis points) and Togo (+6.4 basis points). Lending rates intended for customers also fell overall during 2018. The main beneficiaries of the reduction in the cost of credit are individuals (-48 basis points), state-owned companies (- 11 basis points), private companies (-13 basis points) and sole proprietorships (-7 basis points).