The Association of Banks in Romania asked the Central Bank to issue rules that would prevent people from drafting credits in currencies other than the one they get their main income in.

The Association of Banks in Romania asked the Central Bank to issue rules that would prevent people from drafting credits in currencies other than the one they get their main income in. This comes on the heel of the Central Bank's decision to ask commercial banks for higher safeguard deposits with the Central Bank. The proposal is said to protect especially lower income Romanians from the risk of defaulting on their credit payments, when exchange rates turn initial manageable credit rates into unmanageable ones. “I believe it gets to as simple as that: people should have access to hard currency credits if they can prove they are being paid hard currency salaries,” said Radu Gratian Ghetea, president of the Banks Association. Adrian Vasilescu, adviser to the National Bank Governor Mugur Isarescu, said Ghetea's proposal is a very serious one, warranting a serious debate. However, he added that “personally I do not believe an official decision will be taken on the matter, given that the European Union trend is to lift all hurdles and make the creditworthiness the only criteria for granting credits.” By the end of 2007 the retail credits made an aggregate of 71.5 billion lei [roughly 19.8 billion euros], up 82%, from 2006. The credits denominated in hard currency went up three times faster than those in the national currency, leu. By November 2007, for the first time Romanians owned more credits in hard currencies than in the leu, or 10.3 billion against 9.3 billion euros worth. The steepest raise was recorded for credits in currencies other than the euro, namely the Swiss francs, which amounted to 1.7 billion euros worth. The stable exchange rate the