NBR eases monitoring of foreign banks

After more than a year of keeping an eye on the exposures of the main nine foreign banks in Romania, looking for ways to persuade them to preserve their exposure, the IMF, the European Commission and the National Bank have agreed to a 5% cut to the end of March 2009 level.
Concerned that the financing lines for local subsidiaries of Erste, Raiffeisen, Eurobank, National Bank of Greece, UniCredit, Société Générale, Alpha Bank, Volksbank, and Piraeus could be cut as a result of the international crisis, the NBR (National Bank of Romania) has constantly monitored the level of exposure, which became a very sensitive issue.
Last Thursday in Brussels, the IMF, the EU, the NBR, and the Finance Ministry have agreed to a reduction of their exposure to 95% of the March 2009 level, with the Romanian authorities virtually admitting they have not been able to spur economic revival and loan demand. However, the IMF says some of the 9 banks even voiced their intention to increase financing in Romania, having picked up signs of an economic recovery.