In all, new leu, euro and dollar loans granted to consumers and companies stood at about RON51 billion in 2014, half as much as in 2008. The volume of new loans was RON2.5 billion higher in January-October than in the entire last year, largely because of low borrowing costs and other things such as the increase in incomes and macroeconomic stability.
“We believe the lending reboot has just begun and will pick up speed next year. We expect lending to be mostly leu-denominated in 2016 because interest rates are as low as euro’s, the lending terms are better and there is no foreign exchange risk,” explains Rozalia Pal, chief-economist of Garanti Bank. (EUR1=RON4.5105)
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)