Exports may run out of breath

Romanian exports are expected to remain the driving force behind economic growth this year, but they may soon run out of breath, says Eugen Dijmarescu, head of the Foreign Trade Department.
Dijmarescu speaks of the banks’ “genuine effort” to maintain export loans within the symbolic 1% of the total granted credits. Although he has been running the Department since mid-2002, Dijmarescu does not take official responsibility for these statements, saying this is his personal point of view.
According to Eugen Dijmarescu, export financing was a “genuine Cinderella” last year, accounting for only 1.7% of the total non-governmental bank loans, slightly down since the previous years.
In other words, the record-high posted last year by exports ($13.9 billion), which fuelled the economic growth estimated at 4.9-5% of the Gross Domestic Product, was mainly triggered by the exporters’ own efforts. Although they were not in the least helped by banks, except for Eximbank, exporters benefited from the euro’s 25.2% increase against the Romanian leu. “This is a general illness of the banking system. The force of habit and the lending norms keep the banks from helping the exporters as they should,” says Mihai Ionescu, general secretary of the National Association of Importers and Exporters (ANEIR).
According to Eugen Dijmarescu, the way banking resources are managed should be revised, so as to expand lending to exporters.
“Financing for actual export operations accounted for 3-4% of the total credits granted by BRD last year. The general financing of export companies is broader, comprising a large part of our credit portfolio,” said Florin Luca, secretary general of BRD-SocGen, the second-largest bank on the Romanian market.
Romanian exports will be facing three major problems this year – double profit tax, possible side effects of the shift to the euro as benchmark currency and a less promising outlook for the international market (especially the European area).