Private lending is not rebounding

Lending to the private sector in March slid by 1.3% in nominal terms, to 203.9bn lei (49.6bn euros), according to NBR data. Excluding the inflation impact, the decline of non-governmental lending was even steeper, at 1.9%.

This means that sales of new loans are still below the level of repayments by clients, though in recent months bankers have announced the re-launch of lending, coming up with interest rate cuts inclusively. Lending to individuals was hurt the most, with the nominal decrease in volumes on this segment reaching 1.7%, to 98bn lei.

"Consumers' confidence is still low and the client base is largely indebted, so that banks should be cautious and protect both clients and themselves. Individuals' incomes are still low and doubled by the high indebtedness level it leads to a low borrowing capacity on the part of clients," says George Gerogakopoulos, an executive manager with the retail lending unit of Bancpost.

In parallel, loans taken out by companies dropped by 0.8% and hit the equivalent of 105.9bn lei (25.7bn euros), with the foreign currency component as the hardest hit.

However, loans granted to companies rose compared with the end of last year owing to the positive dynamics of the first two months, and sales on this segment could go up in the coming months.