Though the growth pace is not spectacular, the trend is highly important, considering consumer loan portfolios had kept thinning down, also harming banks’ interest income.
“We noticed a consumer lending revival in recent months. We sell twice as much as we did in the same period of last year on the segment of consumer loans,” said Adrian Jantea, manager at BRD, Romania’s second largest bank.
Retail lending starting giving the first signs of a pickup at the beginning of this year.
Banks keep up pressure on client with interest rate margins for consumer loans of around 10% per annum, a very high level considering inflation is at all-time lows and BNR drove the benchmark interest rate to a low of 3.25% per annum.
In July, consumer loans accounted for 78% in total leu funding granted by banks to individuals.
While consumer loans are recovering at a slow pace, mortgage loans are growing fast. In July, mortgage loans reached RON6.51 billion, a 10% plus from June. Against the same period of last year, the volume is three times higher.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)