Loans in RON fall 9%, foreign currency loans see slight recovery

Nongovernmental lending in RON fell in 2009, after seeing
two-digit annual increases for almost a decade, because of the lack
of demand and of banks being reluctant to grant loans.
Nongovernmental lending in RON fell by 9% in real terms in 2009
amid an unwillingness from individuals and from companies to become
indebted, while banks became more prudent when granting loans
because of the accelerated deterioration of credit portfolios,
according to data from the NBR (National Bank of Romania). At the
end of December, nongovernmental loans in RON amounted to 79.7
billion RON (around 19 billion euros), down 0.6% against the
previous month. The decline rate of RON loans flattened over the
last few months, whilst the monthly decline exceeded 1% in the
first few months of last year. “Loans in RON continue to fall, but
at a lower rate because there is a very significant base effect
considering the 2.4% decline in December 2008,” says Catalina
Molnar, chief economist of RBS Bank. Foreign currency loans rose by
0.4% in December, to 120.2 billion RON (28.5 billion euros).