Romania’s Ctrl Bk New Lending Norms Block Loan Refinancing – BCR Official

Sorin Mititelu, CEO of BCR’s Business Development and Retail Products Department, said that for a loan in foreign currency with an initial annual interest rate of  4.5%, a client needs a 40% higher income to refinance it. Thus, for the same income, he could not take the same loan.

 

"The debt consolidation and transposing it on a longer period would be a solution," he said.

 

As regards the possibility of increasing the number of overdue payers, Mititelu explained the banks should be flexible enough for "a win-win situation" of both parties.

 

According to the new regulation, the banks have to calculate a debt degree for household lending based on revenues that do not exceed by more than 20% the ones declared to the Fiscal Authority in the previous year.

 

Also, the maximum monthly installment an individual can afford to pay back on a loan will not be changed until the loan matures, according to regulation.

 

For banks that don’t have their own lending norms, the debt degree will be lowered to 35% from 40% of the client’s income.