Late instalments leap to 6.9% of overall loans

The value of overdue instalments by the population and companies climbed by nearly 930 million RON (220 million euros) in August, to a 14.4 billion-RON high, with their share in the overall loans climbing from 6.5% in July to 6.9% at the end of August, show data from the NBR (National Bank of Romania).
The biggest leap was recorded by late payments of foreign currency loans, with their volume climbing by the equivalent of 143 million euros, to 1.7 billion euros (7.3 billion RON). The growth rate of late payments on foreign-currency loans has increased over the last few months, signalling a deterioration of the financial situation of clients with secured loans and difficulties in restructuring corporate loans.
"There is a structural problem here because there has been a difference in the quality of clients who took out foreign currency loans and those who took out loans in RON, which made the former more resistant to the current economic context. But the crisis lingered on and clients with loans in foreign currency are starting to be affected, as well," believes financial analyst Aurelian Dochia.