The spread between RON-denominated interest rates on theindividual clients' existing loans and deposits continued to climbby half a percentage point in the first quarter of the year, to8.14%, with bankers seeking to cover their costs over the periodduring which they are not granting new loans, reveal data of theNBR (National Bank of Romania). The interest rate margin remains atover 5% for RON-denominated loans and deposits.
Under the circumstances, the number of loan applicants has nearlyhalved compared with the 2008 peak, with the only segments stillafloat being credit cards and mortgage loans.
Bankers are keeping spreads up in order to have better costcoverage, with operating costs falling to 56.7% of revenues inMarch, compared with 60.7% in December, and a little lower than thelevel of the similar period of last year. The reduced weight ofoperating costs also comes amid the around 4,000 redundancies madein the banking system in the past year, and the closure of tens ofbranches.
Interests on existing loans fell by half a percentage point in thefirst three months of the year, while deposit interest rates fellby over a percentage point.
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