Delinquent loans double to 545 million euros

The delinquent loans denominated on RON accumulated by both individuals and corporate entities increased rapidly by the end of August and reached a 143% higher level compared with the same time last year, according to NBR data. The banks’ clients did not have the same problems repaying their loans in foreign currencies, where loan delinquency only increased by 81%. The cumulated value of delinquent loans in RON and foreign currency accumulated by the banks’ clients was 123% higher at the end of August against the same time of last year. Therefore the volume of delinquent loans in RON and foreign currency accumulated by individuals and companies reached 1.92 billion RON (545 million euros). This shows an increase of 9.44% compared with July, when overdue debts totalled 1.75 billion RON (497 million euros). “If we look at the base they are starting from, it is only natural that the growth would seem high. Yet there is no danger from non-performing loans because they remain very low as a share of the total loans granted. In addition, we have to compare against the countries in the region and we will see that we are below the European average,” explained Ella Kallai, chief economist of Alpha Bank.