Banks will no longer be as restrictive as they were in their lending to the public and private sector, in the coming period, even though the professional associations have announced that they are expecting bankruptcies and contraction of businesses, after the raise of the VAT and of the layoffs, the representatives of lenders told us.
Last week, representatives of "Coface România" were saying that the raise in taxation would cause a contraction in consumption, and implicitly a reduction in the companies" sales, which will affect private companies in particular. In the absence of any positive economic factors, lending will most likely remain restricted, "Coface" analysts consider.
Financial analysts however expect bankers to continue to lend money to businesses with a good financial standing and a solid management.
In May, the balance of non-governmental lending amounted to 203.11 billion lei, up 1.4% compared to the previous month, and 2% over May 2009, according to data from the Central Bank.
Out of this amount, 102.61 billion lei went to companies (non-financial companies and non-monetary financial institutions).
In lei, the balance of loans issued to non-financial companies and non-monetary financial institutions stood at almost 40.19 billion lei, down 0.3% over April, and down 4% over May 2009.
The balance of loans for non-financial institutions and non-monetary financial institutions amounted to 62.42 billion lei, up 2,7% over the previous month and up 9% compared to May 2009.
Lucian Oană, manager of SME sales with OTP Bank, said that the banks are increasingly willing to lend money, and added: "It is true that banks are asking for increasingly higher downpayments for loans in this sector, meaning that loan applications are not as numerous".
For instance, in order to encourage lending, OTP has decided to ext
