Payments through banks down 2.3% in Q3, to 14.2bn euros

The value of interbank payments, an indicator that that follows closely the progression of the economy, fell by 2.3% in July-September compared with the corresponding period of 2009, to 60.5 billion RON (14.2 billion euros).

Data on payments validate analysts’ expectations – they anticipate an economic contraction in the third quarter of the year, following the austerity measures taken by the Government in the summer. The Institute of Statistics will publish data on the progression of the Gross Domestic Product as late as in November.

The decline in payments made through banks has, however, slowed down compared with previous months. For instance, in the first six months of the year payments fell by nearly 5%, while in the similar period of last year the drop exceeded 14%, reveal data from Transfond, the electronic payments operator.

“It is normal for the payment decline to flatten because now we are very close to the lower limit of the economic decline, although it is not very clear how much we will stay here. The economy will continue to decline in the third quarter, especially considering the VAT increase and the cuts to public sector salaries,” believes Laurian Lungu, managing partner of Macroanalitica.