The spectacular increase is due to a more relaxed policy of the National Bank of Romania (BNR) and the possibility of market lenders to apply their own standards. Alpha Bank was the first lender on the Romanian market to make such a decision. "The average value of mortgages granted in June was higher by one third than the level registered in April, while personal loans increased on average by 35 percent in value in the same period," Elena Nita told Business Standard. She explained that the number of mortgages rose by 213 percent, with their value up by some 300 percent in June from April, while the number and value of personal loans increased by 156 percent and 192 percent, respectively.
The monthly average of personal loans reached €100,000 in 2006, and the average of mortgages amounted to some €500,000. Alpha Bank posted gross profit worth €30.16 million in 2006, a 1.3 percent increase year-on-year.
The lender intends to expand its network by 50 percent, to 125 branches from 83 in 2007.
