“It is the job of shareholders of banks to have sufficient capital. Only in exceptional cases is the intervention of the state justified. I see no need for the takeover of bank assets as such a situation is ‘easy to avoid,’ because Romanian banks have not invested in toxic assets. The banks do not exposure on Iceland or the US, but only on Romania,” added van Groningen.
AVAS’s President predicted that the institution’s banking receivable portfolio could increase next year. “Next year, at this time, AVAS’s banking receivables portfolio will increase. Non-performing receivables of some banks in Romania could become part of the Authority’s portfolio, as a result of the financial crisis,” Ursache declared for Business Standard Mircea Ursache, although he indicated that no talks are taking place with any bank at this time. The banker who is running the local business of Raiffeisen Bank believes that the drop in interest rates will lead to loans rebounding, although he also feels that the measure proposed by the government to introduce a lump-sum tax could slow lending to small and medium-sized enterprises.
