Foreign currency lending boom in August

The volume of foreign currency-denominated consumer credits increased in August by the record amount of almost 19% to 14,980 billion ROL (364 million euros), according to preliminary NBR statistics. In the same period, ROL-denominated loans for the acquisition of consumer goods rose by 3.3% to 53,011 billion ROL (1.3 billion euros). Together, the total volume of consumer credits at the end of August amounted to 67,991 billion ROL (over 1.6 billion euros), 6.3% higher in ROL. These increases once again justify the recent moves by NBR to bring down the intervention rate by 2.5% and raise the rate of the compulsory minimal reserves from sources attracted in foreign currency, intended to temper dollar and foreign currency lending. The good news is that the volume of overdue payments on foreign currency loans in August dropped 5%, to 1,247 billion ROL (30 million euros). ZF