“The foreclosure process is increasingly difficult, and alas, the clients know it as well. Nobody is buying factories, farms or even apartments anymore… the banks must find solutions to save their clients,” Radu Gratian Ghetea said at a financial forum organized by Mediafax and the central bank.
Ghetea said around 70% of the financially troubled clients who were given the “oxygen mask of the restructuring” have managed to bring their business back afloat.
Romanian non-performing loans were at 13.6% of overall lending at the end of August, according to central bank officials.
Speaking at the same forum, ING Bank’s head Misu Negritoiu said that the high level of NPLs makes the market unattractive, to say the least.
“What do the banks do with the NPLs? Let’s be honest, they don’t do a thing with them. We can’t foreclose on the few loans we have and the market is not helping either,” Negritoiu said.