Thus, the growth pace of deposits in 2009 will drop compared to 2008, even though the Romanian state has eliminated taxes on interest earnings. Banks have aggressively increased interest rates on deposits, as the low liquidity on the international market and higher costs for attracting resources has cut into the funds planned for granting loans. The thirst for resources of lenders, who no longer benefit from medium and long-term financing lines from mother-banks, has pushed yields over 14 percent on time deposits on the market. “I expect higher interest rates to boost deposits.
It is clear that we will not have double-digit interest rates in the coming years. Deposits will register a higher growth rate than loans in 2009,” Lucian Anghel, Chief Analyst at Banca Comerciala Romana (BCR), the largest lender locally in terms of assets. Corporate and individual deposits totaled €41.5 billion at the end of September, with an estimated annual increase of 30 percent in 2008. The highest growth pace is expected to be registered in December. Anghel said that the net value of deposits could amount to RON 170-180 bln (€44.24-46.84 bln) by the end of 2008. “Retail deposits could rise by more than 30 percent while corporate deposits will register a pace below 30 percent,” Anghel added.
