Romania’s bank loans rose 6.1 pct y/y in February, savings up 12.9 pct

The bank loans granted to individual and corporate clients in Romania rose 6.1 percent year on year in February, to RON 233.3 billion (EUR 50 billion), and the amount of deposits increased by 12.9 percent, to RON 306.6 billion (EUR 65.8 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 15.8 percent year on year in February, to RON 146.8 billion, corporate loans surging by 21.4 percent.

During the same period, forex-denominated loans declined by 7 percent, to RON 86.5 billion-forex equivalent, due to stricter rules regarding forex bank loans.

Bank deposits continued to rise at fast pace. In February, RON-denominated deposits of residents (individual clients and companies) grew by 12.6 percent year on year, to RON 208.5 billion, while forex-denominated deposits increased by 13.4 percent, to RON 98.2 billion-forex equivalent.

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