Speaking at a meeting with members of the Romanian Banking Association, Isarescu said the recent uptick in economic growth mainly reflects an increase in net exports, which in turn contributed to a “significant improvement” of the current account balance.
The Romanian economy expanded at an annual rate of 2.1% in the January-March period, according to data from the national statistics institute INS. Net exports contributed 3% to the first quarter GDP, the data showed.
Isarescu said both household and corporate lending remain in negative territory, while the peak in non-performing loans ratio is yet to be reached. End-April, the NPL ratio was 19.5% of total loans, up from 18.2% in December 2012.
Nevertheless, the local banking system is liquid and well capitalized, Isarescu said, mentioning that profitability levels have improved substantially in the past months.
According to central bank data, local banks reported an aggregate net profit of 713 million lei (EUR158.9 million) after the first four months of 2013, up from RON489 million at the end of March.