Consumer credit in RON exceeds 10bn euros

Consumer credits taken out by the population in RON went up to a level equivalent to 10.3 billion euros, a 36% increase on July last year, according to data from the NBR (National Bank of Romania). While overall there is a slowdown in the credit growth rate, consumer loans taken out by the population in RON jumped significantly in July. In fact, the 3.4% growth rate in July was the most accelerated rate this year, followed by the April rate, of 2.5%. The annualised growth was also above the one calculated in the previous month, but lower than in the first few months of the year. However, all the other categories of credit saw a marked slowdown. “Data points to a slowdown in lending, and a significant slowdown is expected over the next few months. This is primarily due to the base effect, the volume of credits granted by banks is much higher than last year. From a 56% credit growth rate, I expect we will reach 40% by the end of the year (…),” said Ionut Dumitru, head of Raiffeisen Bank’s research department.