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Fearing restrictions, Romanians rush to take out forex loans

Forex loans taken out by Romanians recorded this September the highest monthly growth pace of the past ten months, as the local currency, the leu (RON) depreciated against the single European currency before the coming into force of the new regulation of the National Bank of Romania (BNR) restricting exposure to loans. After two months of accelerated slowdown in non-governmental credit, the balance of loans surged to RON 194.17 billion (nearly 52 billion euros).

'Romanians hastened to take out bank loans in anticipation of the restrictions in the new crediting regulation,' BNR chief-economist Valentin Lazea told Business Standard on Friday.

The opinion is shared by Chief Analyst of Raiffeisen Bank Romania Ionut Dumitru, who says that the monthly rise of 8.7 percent in forex crediting is influenced by the depreciation of the exchange rates of the leu and the Romanians who took out loans before the implementation of the new BNR regulation.

In annual terms, loans granted by banks to individuals and corporations surged 50.5 percent in September on a strong advancement in forex loans, at the end of two weeks of accelerated slowdown. As of end-September 2008, loans taken out in Romania were standing at 52 billion euros.

Analysts are expecting the increase to moderate in the months ahead. 'Loan requirements have toughened. Our projections indicate the advancement in the non-government credit will stand at 40 percent at the end of the year because of the breaks on crediting. The BNR crediting regulation is not the main factor. The greatest impact is given by the availability of external financing, rising costs and increasing risk factors,' says the Raiffeisen Bank Romania chief analyst.The developments this September generated a slight modification in the leu's worth against other foreign currencies within the composition of the non-government credit, with the forex loans increasing their weight in the total to 56.06 percent in September from 54.53 percent in August.Forex loans granted to corporations also recorded a significant rise in September on a monthly basis.In October, some banks halted granting euro and Swiss franc denominated loans and put restrictions in place as far as loans are concerned. 'Euro-denominated loans will decrease in time, because forex loans are risky. During such times, when such things are happening at Romania's borders, it is normal that each bank reanalyses its risk profile. They are no longer throwing money out of the window,' says BNR Bank Oversight Directorate.As far as the RON-denominated loans are concerned, corporate loans recorded the highest monthly rise, of 2.4 percent, and 40 percent in annual terms, reaching 11.9 billion euros.Internal assets of credit institutions and monetary funds totaled RON 297.6 billion (nearly 84.26 billion euros) in August, with a large majority of them having been created from bank loans.

 

Sursa: http://www.rompress.ro

Tags: loans billion percent bnr september restrictions romanians forex euro euro

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