Credisson grants 30m-euro loans in 3 months

The drop in interest rates for credits in RON softened the effects of the administrative measures taken last autumn by the NBR in order to contain credit growth, so just three months from the beginning of the year, the consumer credit company Credisson has already granted loans worth a total of 30 million euros. Compared with the same period of last year, the volume of credits is 37% higher, and this speed of growth is not at all surprising given that sales of non-foods registered a 33.8% leap this January compared with January 2005. Apart from the drop in interest rates, price discounts initiated by retailers after the holidays were also behind the increase in sales. According to NBR data, the volume of the consumer credits in the banking system doubled in January 2006 in comparison to January 2005, reaching the equivalent of almost 4.6 billion euros. Credits in RON account for 70% of total consumer funding. The companies that grant consumer credits have until next autumn to consolidate their positions on the market, before the NBR completes the regulation framework for activities of financial non-banking institutions. ZF