Creditcoop: We have not increased interest rate on credits

Cooperative bank Creditcoop, which grants consumer loans to the population via a 900-branch network, is one of the few lending institutions which says it has not operated interest rate increases, has not abruptly slowed down lending and has not seen a rise in loan delinquency. Creditcoop closed 2008 with a volume of loans granted worth 524 million RON (132 million euros), in the wake of a 20% annual rise, while its delinquent loans remained low, at 0.8% of the overall loans granted, slightly down on December last year. In the banking system as a whole, the share of delinquent loans in the overall loans exceeded 1.4% towards the end of 2008. “Over the last few years, we recorded rises of 15-20% on lending, which the Governor (of NBR i.e.) regarded as normal, as opposed to the unnatural growth rates of other banks – 100%. I would have liked for us to see bigger increases. There was demand, but, since we only had funding available from our own resources, this is the best we could do,” said Adrian Morar, 48, president of Creditcoop for the last eight years, since the institution came under supervision of the NBR (National Bank of Romania), thus becoming a bank.