The central bank’s board approved new regulations on Wednesday, limiting limiting the indebtedness ratio allowed for consumer loans and mortgage loans to 40% for loans in lei and 20% for loans in foreign currency. For clients on their first mortgage, the indebtedness ratio may be increased by 5 percentage points.
The rules apply to banks and non-banking financial institutions alike.
So far, some banks have granted loans accepting an indebtedness ratio as high as 70%. The average indebtedness ratio on the Romanian lending market currently stands at around 47% for mortgage loans and 45% for consumer loans, central bank data showed.
Loan applications submitted before January 1, 2019 will follow the current rules, even though the actual loan is granted after that date.
Refinancing loans for the repayment of previous loans are also exempt from the new regulations. However, they are not exempt if they entail the contracting of an additional loan.