Private lending unable to recover, but doesn't collapse, either

The corporate segment is the only one that attracts more loans from banks, with euro loans being in demand. The RON, on the other hand, is out of favour as far as borrowing is concerned, with individual customers no longer having the courage to take on debt.

The focus of lending towards companies is seen as a good signal by analysts, while the decline of loan demand from individual customers was to be expected after the austerity measures imposed by the Government in the summer.

“In September, when the effects of the austerity measures were fully felt, we can talk about a stagnation of lending rather than a collapse. The fact that we are seeing a slight increase on the corporate segment is exactly what we were expecting and in principle it is the base for a healthy rebound, both of lending and of the economy,” says Rozalia Pal, chief-economist of UniCredit Țiriac Bank. Private lending fell by 0.4% in real terms, with the September volume amounting to 207.9 billion RON (48.8 billion euros). Corporate funding is equal to funding for the population.

Companies kept their volume of RON-denominated loans relatively steady, both compared with August, and with September of last year. Foreign currency loans, on the other hand, rose by around 1% in September, with the rise against September of last year amounting to 10% amid a volume expressed in RON.