“We believe that household lending is posing considerably high risks because of job uncertainty. Most of those asking for financing are currently facing difficult situations,” Ghetea said.
CEC Bank will focus on the corporate sector, mainly on small and medium-sized enterprises, he added.
Ghetea expects the share of leu-denominated household loans will exceed that of euro-denominated household loans, especially following new central bank regulations which limit consumer loans in foreign currency.
On the other hand, Anthony Hassiotis, chief executive of Bancpost and of the local subsidiaries of Greece’s Eurobank, said household lending in Romania is starting to recover, with both the consumer and mortgage sectors showing positive signs.