Bad payers cause Bihor bankers headaches

Bankers are facing ever growing problems related to late loan payments, with the total value of the population's and companies' overdue payments climbing by 44% since the start of the year, in the context where in some counties their value has registered even a threefold increase. In Bihor county, for instance, overdue payments in May rose to 1.13bn RON, accounting for 18.2% in total loans granted by the domestic bank subsidiaries, according to NBR data. Clients' overindebtedness is the main cause that has led to booming overdue payments in the county at the moment people's incomes dropped and firms started coping with slumping turnover. Throughout the entire country, the rate of overdue payments in late May reached 6.2% from 5.2% in April and 3.8% in December. Bankers expected the peak of non-performing loans to be reached this summer. However, the Government's austerity moves are toppling these forecasts, and bankers are now expecting the loan portfolio deterioration trend to continue until 2011.