Romania’s bank loans rose 6.8 pct y/y in April, savings up 11 pct

The bank loans granted to individual and corporate clients in Romania rose 6.8 percent year-on-year in April, to RON 238.4 billion (EUR 51.2 billion), and the amount of deposits increased by 11 percent, to RON 307 billion (EUR 65.9 billion), according to National Bank of Romania (BNR) data released on Friday.

RON-denominated non-government loans, which include loans granted to individual clients and companies, grew by 16.2 percent year-on-year in April, to RON 152.6 billion, household loans surging by 23.4 percent.

During the same period, forex-denominated loans declined by 6.7 percent, to RON 85.7 billion-forex equivalent, due to stricter rules regarding forex bank loans.

Bank deposits have become less attractive in the first months of this year, as a consequence of low interest rates and rising inflation (+5.2 percent in April).

RON-denominated deposits of residents (individual clients and companies) increased by 0.6 percent month-on-month, to RON 207.1 billion, and the annual growth rate accelerated to 10.6 percent, from 10.2 percent in March, central bank data show.

Forex-denominated deposits rose by 2.2 percent month-on-month, to RON 99.9 billion-forex equivalent, and by 11.8 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.