Leasing companies don''t expect growth

New regulations set by the National Bank and by the Ministry of Finance will slow down the rate of growth of the leasing market this year, with market officials expecting a 10% increase at best, compared to a 22% growth last year. “The leasing market will stagnate or will see a 5-10% growth at best in 2006, against the previous year,” stated Bogdan Apahidean, chairman of the Leasing Companies Association in Romania (ASLR) and chief executive of Porsche Leasing Romania. According to his statements, the new regulations proposed by the NBR and the Ministry of Finance on the crediting activity of financial non-banking institutions, which could come into force this year, will cause leasing companies on the market to post weaker results with some of them maybe even disappearing altogether. The main modifications brought by these regulations put a limit to the issuing of bonds by leasing companies, and therefore restrict access to refinancing and limit the possibility to withdraw the right of leasing companies to merge with limited liability companies. ZF