Romanians’ RON loans maintain hot pace in September while savings slow down

Bank loans in RON granted to individuals rose by 1.3 percent month-on-month and by 20.1 percent year-on-year in September, up to a fresh all-time high of RON 92.9 billion (EUR 19.9 billion) despite higher interest rates but Romanians are less interested in keeping savings in bank accounts, according to National Bank of Romania (BNR) data released on Tuesday.

Bank loans granted to individuals and corporate clients in Romania rose 6.3 percent year-on-year in September, to RON 247.7 billion (EUR 53.1 billion), while the amount of deposits increased by 10.1 percent, to RON 314.7 billion (EUR 67.5 billion).

RON-denominated non-government loans, which include loans granted to individual clients and companies, grew by 13.3 percent year-on-year in September, to RON 162 billion.

During the same period, forex-denominated loans declined by 4.8 percent, to RON 85.7 billion-forex equivalent, due to stricter rules regarding forex bank loans.

Bank deposits have become less attractive this year as a consequence of low interest rates and rising inflation (5 percent in September).

RON-denominated deposits of residents (individual clients and companies) rose by 0.1 percent month-on-month to RON 208.6 billion and the annual growth rate slowed to 7.5 percent, from 7.6 percent in August and 8.5 percent in July, central bank data show.

Forex-denominated deposits rose by 0.2 percent month-on-month in September to RON 106 billion-forex equivalent, and by 15.5 percent year-on-year.

During the last couple of years, Romania’s bank clients increased their creditor status against banks due to strong savings and weak credit market, deposit holders being technically the banks’ creditors.

In September, bank deposits exceeded loans by 27 percent, as credit market is still affected by low demand, experts say.