Lending to the private sector in March slid by 1.3% in nominalterms, to 203.9bn lei (49.6bn euros), according to NBR data.Excluding the inflation impact, the decline of non-governmentallending was even steeper, at 1.9%.
This means that sales of new loans are still below the level ofrepayments by clients, though in recent months bankers haveannounced the re-launch of lending, coming up with interest ratecuts inclusively. Lending to individuals was hurt the most, withthe nominal decrease in volumes on this segment reaching 1.7%, to98bn lei.
"Consumers' confidence is still low and the client base islargely indebted, so that banks should be cautious and protect bothclients and themselves. Individuals' incomes are still low anddoubled by the high indebtedness level it leads to a low borrowingcapacity on the part of clients," says George Gerogakopoulos, anexecutive manager with the retail lending unit of Bancpost.
In parallel, loans taken out by companies dropped by 0.8% andhit the equivalent of 105.9bn lei (25.7bn euros), with the foreigncurrency component as the hardest hit.
However, loans granted to companies rose compared with the endof last year owing to the positive dynamics of the first twomonths, and sales on this segment could go up in the comingmonths.
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