Raiffeisen prepares bond issue in RON

Raiffeisen Bank’s funding strategy for 2007 includes the release of a bond issue in order to support the increase in the average maturity of loans, as well as to cope with the downward trend of liquidities on the market, Steven Van Groningen, chairman of Raiffeisen Bank told ZF. “The increase of lending in RON and the rise in minimum compulsory reserves are already causing liquidities to drop, so, in addition to issuing bonds, we are also considering long-term saving products,” says Van Groningen. For the time being, the bank is seeing above average liquidity, with the volume of deposits attracted being higher than that of credits granted, although passive interests are among the lowest on the market.