The high profits come amid a moderate growth in lending and a decline of the economy due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Private lending saw an average growth of 5.4% in January-August 2020, compared with the year ago period, and rose by 0.9% in August over July 2020 and 3.7% over August 2019.
The economy went down 4.6% in gross figures and 3.9% in seasonally adjusted figures in the first half, compared with the same time in 2019, Romania’s National Statistics Institute announced.
The country’s banking system made some RON1.6 billion profit in the first quarter and then its profit rose to RON2.74 billion by the end of the first half.
First-half net profit in Romania’s banking system stood at some RON5 billion in 2019, according to Romania’s central bank data.
Banking system’s net profit reached RON6.33 billion in 2019, amid a 7.6% average annual growth in lending, and was 7.3% lower than the record high profit of 2018, RON6.83 billion.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)