French banks rank second, in terms of loans granted in Romania, with $16.5 bln, followed by Italian financial institutions, at $13.4 bln, and Dutch lenders with $10.7 bln.
Austrian banks are the largest lenders of clients in Eastern Europe, with loans worth $277.6 bln, 75 percent of Austria’s gross domestic product (GDP), which could cause problems in case of massive depreciations of national currencies.
The Head of Austria’s central bank, Ewald Nowotny, recently said that Austria’s funds in emerging Europe’s banking sector are a manageable risk, but one which must be carefully supervised.
