Bankers move again to make consumer lending cheaper

Banks’ individual clients borrowed at lower rates last year, with the annual percentage rate for RON consumer loans reaching 17.5% per annum in December 2010, down almost 4.5% from the same period of 2009, show NBR data.
The effective cost of RON loans is thus near the all-time lows of 2007, after interest rates went down steadily for four consecutive months. Bankers cheapened retail loans in the first half of last year, as well, but in summer (when VAT was raised, leading to an inflation leap) interest rates for unsecured loans again got close to the threshold of 20% per annum before starting to fall again as late as in the last months of 2010.
“RON loan interests shrank as the high liquidity on the market also allowed for a drop in interbank funding costs. The cost of loans is likely to decline further, but considering the inconsistent size of the interbank market, fluctuations may occur in both directions,” comments Lucian Anghel, chief-economist with BCR.