New deposits in lei stood at RON73.2 billion and new deposits in euros stood at EUR10.8 billion (RON51.3 billion).
The new deposits in lei and in euros made by individuals returned to growth in 2018 compared with 2017 after several years of decline.
Banks have largely relied on resources attracted from individual clients in the past few years for lending, which are more stable and increased a lot during the crisis, because of a prudent spending behavior.
Households returned to the position of net creditor of banks in 2012, after having been net debtors during the economic boom years. The economic crisis flattened the growth of lending and the recovery was modest until the last two years.
Individuals continue to keep their savings in banks, despite the low interests. The average interest rate for term deposits in lei stood at 2.07% in November 2019, slightly higher than the 1.76% in 2018. Interests on euro deposits are lower, no more than 0.5%.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)