Bankers make loans more expensive for second month in a row

New loans became more expensive in July, both RON and euro-denominated ones, for the second consecutive month, although bankers are complaining of a lack of customers for loans.
The banking market recorded an annual percentage rate of 18.8% on RON consumer loans in July, up by one percentage point against June, show data of the NBR (National Bank of Romania). Even secured loans became more difficult to obtain, with the annual percentage rate on new mortgage loans up by 1.6%, to 7.29%.
“Banks may have reacted ‘mechanically’ to the inflation rise and, forced to boost deposit interest rates, they also boosted the cost of loans in order to preserve the interest rate spread,” says Laurian Lungu, managing partner at Macroanalitica research company.
Several banks returned to interests above 8% a year on RON deposits in July, after inflation exceeded 7% and after the introduction of the tax on interest incomes. But whilst the nominal interest rate on new RON-denominated loans for individuals went up by 0.44%, the average increase on deposit interest rates was half as much.