Senior editor
Liviu Chiru
- Fields
- Banks-Insurance, Macroeconomics, Capital Market
- Writing for ZF since
- 2011
- Articles
- 29
Swiss Franc Might Climb To RON3.9
Those who now regret that they took out a loan in Swiss francs, as the franc is now 75% stronger against the leu compared with 2007-2008, at around RON3.7, should prepare for worse. Foreign...
Romanian Investors Are Turning To Gold, As Prices Hit All-time Highs
When gold hit its second all-time peak in a row at National Bank of Romania (BNR) rates on Tuesday, Piraeus Bank, the only domestic lender that sells gold to retail clients, registered order...
Investors Abandon Leu And Bucharest Shares Fearing Italy Debt Problems
The leu and the Bucharest Stock Exchange fell 2% in the past two days, after international investors responded anxiously to fears that Italy and potentially even Spain could face similar pro...
Greek Banks Raise Deposit Interests, While Big Banks Are Lowering Them
The thirst for liquidity of small and mid-sized banks has led to the re-emergence on the market of offers of leu-denominated deposits with interests of 7.5% to 7.75% a year, even though the...
Overdue Swiss Franc Loans Double In One Year
With the Swiss franc at an all-time high against the leu, bankers can do nothing but sit and watch the overdue loans rise fast. After the franc has gone up 60% against the leu since the begi...
Alpha Bank Injects EUR50M Into Romanian Subsidiary
Alpha Bank, the local subsidiary of one of the leading Greek financial groups, received a significant capital injection in June, of EUR50 million. Bank officials say the capital increase is...
Bankers Keep Money With BNR At 2.25% Interest, While Private Lending Declines
Bankers placed an average of 2 billion lei (equivalent to half a billion euros) in each working day in June in the overnight deposit facility of the central bank (BNR), for which they get an...
We Did Not Know Why We Grew, Now We Don’t Know Why We Are Sliding
Almost three years after the economic crisis was first felt on the Romanian market, and after the economy has lost EUR30 billion, with tens of thousands of companies going insolvent or disap...
Finance Ministry To Keep Banks’ Money Only If They Agree To Longer Maturities
The Finance Ministry paradoxically has the upper hand over bankers because at the end of July it is in banks’ best interest not to be stuck with the EUR2.4 billion that the state has to repa...
Today It’s Cheaper To Buy A Bank Than To Grow Organically - OTP Boss
It has become cheaper for a banking group looking to consolidate its presence on the market to buy a bank rather than invest in organic growth, says Laszlo Diosi, head of OTP Bank, the domes...
BNP Paribas, OTP And Two Investment Funds In The Race For RBS
RBS Bank Romania, the local subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Scotland put up for sale as part of the reorganization plan of the British group shaken by the losses of the last few years, could...
Swiss Franc Loans Cause Trouble To Banks And Clients Alike
Loans in Swiss francs, used in boom years as a means of stimulating sales thanks to the low nominal interests, are now troublesome for bankers as well, not just for clients who chose to borr...