Nongovernmental lending in RON fell in 2009, after seeing two-digit annual increases for almost a decade, because of the lack of demand and of banks being reluctant to grant loans. Nongovernmental lending in RON fell by 9% in real terms in 2009 amid an unwillingness from individuals and from companies to become indebted, while banks became more prudent when granting loans because of the accelerated deterioration of credit portfolios, according to data from the NBR (National Bank of Romania). At the end of December, nongovernmental loans in RON amounted to 79.7 billion RON (around 19 billion euros), down 0.6% against the previous month. The decline rate of RON loans flattened over the last few months, whilst the monthly decline exceeded 1% in the first few months of last year. "Loans in RON continue to fall, but at a lower rate because there is a very significant base effect considering the 2.4% decline in December 2008," says Catalina Molnar, chief economist of RBS Bank. Foreign currency loans rose by 0.4% in December, to 120.2 billion RON (28.5 billion euros).