Higher appetite for credits in RON

The population’s appetite for consumer credits in RON went up significantly in February, after volumes registered an almost two-fold increase against the previous month in absolute terms. Consumer credits reached a volume of 58.6 billion RON (equivalent to 15.7 billion euros), an increase of 65% in real terms over the last 12 months, shows NBR data (National Bank of Romania). Over 55% of these loans were taken out in RON. Since the end of 2006, however, funding in foreign currency has been much more dynamic than funding in RON, and, since last summer, the monthly increases were fuelled primarily by loans granted in foreign currency. The overall volume of credits climbed to a sum equivalent to 1.79 billion RON, but funding in RON contributed only 0.71 billion, i.e. 40%. However, loans in the local currency almost doubled against January, the highest increase since November last year. At the end of February, the volume of consumer credits in RON reached 32.28 billion RON (equivalent to 8.6 billion euros). Over the last 12 months, the increase (in nominal terms) stood at 43%, with the growth rate being slightly higher than in January.