“The population is entitled to financing, but it’s only a moral right, because things are slightly more complicated now that all the «beautiful brides are already married»,” said Adrian Vasilescu, adviser to the central bank governor.
Speaking at a banking seminar, Vasilescu said 3.5 million eligible borrowers have already taken out loans and the banks are “looking everywhere” for new clients.
“Unfortunately, there are very few eligible consumers left. Banks should take retail lending to the next step, which in fact should start with extending new loans to companies,” Vasilescu said.
However, lending recovery in Romania is slow as bankers wait for real economic growth before resuming lending, while the economy needs more loans to fuel growth.
The central bank official said personnel restructuring is needed to strengthen and develop some of the banks’ departments in favor of obsolete ones.
“To reiterate an idea put forward by the central bank governor, banks should start their reorganization process by restructuring personnel. However, this doesn’t mean that banks should start firing staff, but reorganize it according to their current needs,” Vasilescu said.