“From October 2008 to July 2009, lending froze in Romania. However, we have lately witnessed a slight rebound. It is very likely that this trend continues in the first half of next year, but we must not say that the current crisis is over, and banks must remain cautious, especially after lending is resumed,” the official said.
Retail and corporate loans rose 0.4 percent in August month-on-month, to RON 198.68 billion, after five months of consecutive declines.
Yurtsever indicated that the downward trend of loan rates will continue in the following months. “Banks cut costs for loans, because, on the one hand, the price of financing is down and, on the other hand, the key rate declined,” the official indicated.
The Head of the Retail Division of GarantiBank added that loans granted by the bank surged 42 percent in the first nine months of this year, but did not mention a total volume of these financings.
Yurtsever said that the current crisis led to Romanian banks focusing more on improving their services, due to the decline in lending. “They are more active on the deposit segment and on the bancassurance segment. We are noticing that increasingly more frequently banks are coming up with new savings products or they are improving their online services offer,” Yurtsever added.
