“There were 57,340 employees and 5,203 offices in the banking system at the end of the first half. There is still room for restructuring,” Nicolae Cinteza, head of the Supervision Department of Romania’s central bank, told ZF.
“Yet restructuring does not mean personnel cutbacks only. It also means a change of mentality. And of quality. The problem is bankers should start thinking of a different business model. Some are doing it, others are not. Bankers need to see clients as partners, because it is clients their profit comes from.”
The number of branches and offices went down by 100 in the first half and almost 400 employees left the banking system in the first half. The first half is also when the banking sector returned to profit and the non-performing loan ratio fell to less than 13%, a five-year low.
The infrastructure of the banking system peaked in 2008 when networks reached a record 6,552 branches and offices, staffed by more than 71,600 people, according to central bank data.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)