The strategy of bankers to protect themselves from the crisiswas to increase the cost of loans for the good payers and cutinterest rates paid to depositors to be able to stomach the lossescaused by the loans they cannot get back. This is the conclusion ofthe National Bank in its 2010 Financial Stability Report.
The increase in provision spending to offset non-performing loanshas always been an excuse used by bankers to make loans moreexpensive. Such raise, however, did not only affect the new loansbut also the outstanding ones, thus putting more pressure on thosecustomers making an effort to not fall behind with their instalmentpayment, despite the price increases they have to deal with and thesalary cuts, or the collapse of their markets in the case ofcorporate clients.
"The increase in interest margins on RON and foreign currency, thesale of immobilised assets and the buying of T-bills were among themost frequent strategies applied by banks to improve theirshort-term financial position," the authors of the NBR reportsay.
Such a policy, however, could turn out to be counterproductive inthe long run.
"With their pricing policies in recent months, a number of bankswill stand to suffer in terms of their relationship with theirclients in the future. You can rely now on the client being captiveand having no choice but it remains to be seen if, once freed upfrom the burden of the loan, they will return to you as a bank,"comments Radu Crăciun, Eureko Pensii chief investmentofficer.
Pentru alte știri, analize, articole și informații din business în timp real urmărește Ziarul Financiar pe WhatsApp Channels
