CEC cuts half a percentage point off RON loan interest

CEC Bank, the only state-owned bank among top ones, is set to cut the basic interest rate for all RON-denominated loans by half a percentage point, to 10.75% per annum for individuals and to 10.9% per annum for companies starting Thursday. For euro loans, the basic interest will be axed from 7.25% per annum to 6.9%. Depending on client profile, the bank levies a margin of between 0.55% and 4.05% above the basic rate for RON loans, with nominal interests thus being double the level of NBR's benchmark interest rate. For euro loans, the margin above the basic interest ranges between 0.75% for car loans and 1.65% for real estate loans. At the same time, interests for time deposits opened with CEC are among the highest on the market, at around 8% per annum. The NBR repeatedly warned about the high interest rates levied by banks despite the lower key rate. CEC was the only bank that last year posted two-digit growth on the lending segment, with the volume of loans granted by the bank reaching 9.2bn RON (around 2.2bn euros) in December, 15% above the 2008 level. Deposits advanced by 22%.