The accelerated increase in the number of guarantees in the first half of 2016 was triggered by uncertainty about mortgage lending following related debates and the enforcement of the law on debt discharge.
The guarantee ceiling for 2016 of the First Home program was supplemented by RON500 million in May. The program has been the main driver of mortgage lending over the last years. The stock of mortgage loans, in Romanian lei and in euro, reached the equivalent of RON55.6 billion at the end of June, according to central bank data.
The law on debt discharge came into force on May 13, after the bill was signed into law by Romanian President Klaus Iohannis and published in the Official Gazette. The law on debt discharge allows retail mortgage borrowers to return real estate collateral to banks in exchange for writing off their loans.