Local lenders have seen their loan book shrinking sharply over the past six months. Bankers don’t expect any major turnaround in the coming period, assuming that “the environment stays relatively stable”, despite the state first time homebuyers program.
Sharp fall in 2009
Raiffeisen Bank’s loan portfolio for the first half stands at merely 30% of last year’s half results, said the director of the retail division, Razvan Munteanu.
“As an aggregated median of the past six months, we granted around 30% of the last year’s sales, in terms of volume. As for small business lending, it is more difficult to estimate, as credit rollover need to be considered”, said Munteanu.
Moreover, no major turnaround, assuming that “the environment stays relatively stable”.
When asked about a sustainable level of lending, the current level is by far below, “but people need to see how far we are from a reasonable level”.
Raiffeisen’s net profit for its operations in Romania and Moldova dropped in first quarter by a staggering 55%, to 17 million euros, from prior-year period, while the group’s total assets increased by 3.4% in January-March.
Raiffeisen’s loan book shrank 4.79% in first quarter from Q4 2008, to 4.38 billion euros, as business loan portfolio account for 39% and consumer lending 61%.
Erste Bank: Banks in Romania should focus on interest reduction
The primary target for the Romanian banking industry should be the reduction of interests, said Wednesday the chief executive officer of Erste Group, Andreas Treichl, who added he expected NBR to discharge liquidities in the coming period and to secure the stability of exchange rates.
“I think the central bank will discharge the cash flow in the coming period. The objective should be the reduction of interests. Another essential problem is the stability of the currency exchange r
