Banks moved to tougher operating costs cuts after in the first years of crisis they put off such measures hoping in vain that the economy would recover. An adjustment was also seen in the average net wage, which fell from RON4,000/bank in December 2011 to RON3,424/bank in December 2012, allowing for the fact that this indicator suffers because of the discrepancy between lower level and top management earnings. However, central bank BNR sees the restructuring measures taken so far as insufficient.
“They have not closed down enough up to now and given the current situation of the economy, you cannot keep the same salaries and the same high personnel numbers. You either cut wages or number of employees. There’s no other solution and unless they restructure, losses will deepen, decapitalization will continue and we will again order them to increase their capital,” says Nicolae Cinteza, director of the supervisory division of the BNR.
At the end of 2012 banks employed 61,739 and the overall network had 5,724 units.
(English version by Daniela Stoican)