PM Tudose: out of 36 active banks in Romania, 18 do not declare profits

According to Romanian PM Mihai Tudose, out of the 36 banks active in Romania, 18 of them claim they do not make a profit.

“Out of the 36 active banks, half are very much in order, half insist they are not able to make a profit, something I’m not buying. We have 18 banks that do not post a profit, that say they end the financial year with losses.” According to the Romanian PM, the The National Agency of Fiscal Administration (ANAF) is currently investigating those banks.

The Romanian PM also said his previous statements should not be seen as an attack on banks, adding that, in his view, banks are an important actor in any economy.

However, he argued that there are banks that raise suspicions. “I wonder, more or less straightforwardly, why are interest rates about twice as big as everywhere around us? It’s a rhetoric question, for now,” he said. Asked whether he can reveal the names of the banks currently investigated by the National Authority for Consumer Protection (ANPC), Tudose said the law does not allow for such information to be disclosed.