Romanian Bank Loans Lose Ground With Cos Nearing Flatline, Skeptical People – Bkr

"We cannot grant loans. The companies that need money are close to bankruptcy. (…) People no longer take loans as they don't trust the bank system," Nicolae said during a seminar on real estate.

Nicolae added lending will resume when people start trusting bank system again.

"The market will revive if retail loans are stimulated. Banks will start granting loans to real estate developers and companies when demands for consumer, mortgage and retail loans will appear," Nicolae said.

Nicolae's statements cannot be considered official and relevant to Credit Europe Bank's views, the financial institution said in a press release Friday evening.

The overall amount of loans granted by banks reached 198.9 billion lei (EUR1=RON4.2978) at the end of September, up 0.1% compared to August and 2.4% compared to the same month in 2008. In real terms, the amount of bank loans dropped 0.3% in September compared to August and 2.4% on the year.

The Government loan dropped in September by 3.8% compared to August, but increased by 273.2% compared to the same month in 2008, to RON43 billion. In real terms, the increase of the Government loan on the year was of 255.7%, according to data of the central bank.

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