Romanian banking associations have called on Parliament to ensure real and constructive dialogue on the bill that seeks to limit interest rates on bank loans and to extend the public debate period by 60 days to assess the impact such a measure would have in practice.
The study shows a cap on interest rates would toughen lending conditions, thus reducing lending, which would have a direct impact on consumption (acquisitions of homes, durable goods and fast moving consumer goods) and the net wealth of individuals.
The KPMG study shows a 5% reduction in household lending would lead to an estimated 1.39% drop in consumption, a 0.17% drop in investments, and a 1.8% drop in gross domestic product.
The bill on capping interest rates seeks to limit effective annual interest rates on mortgage loans at 2.5 times the central bank reference rate and to 18% a year on personal loans.