Anghel, BCR: The banking system will operate at a loss this year

The banking system will continue to operate at a loss this year given the rising volume of bad loans and legislative changes, and the 2011 direction will depend on economic revival, the “First Home” scheme going on, but also on the way Ordinance 50 regarding retail loans is applied, believes Lucian Anghel, the chief-economist of BCR, the biggest domestic bank in terms of assets.
“(…) Once the economy is starting to pick up, lending may also pick up. They are correlated. A lending increase of around 30-50% translates into GDP growth, which, further on, leads to job creation, consumption and even revenues going back to the state budget on medium term,” Anghel explained in an interview with ZF.
Banking system losses climbed by 240.5m RON in the third quarter and reached 474m RON (110m euros) in late September. The increase came amid the around 40% higher volume of provisions against the start of the year, with “loss” loans in August coming to account for around 16% in total funding granted by banks.