Romania Oct Private Lending +0.7% On Mo, At RON201.2B

Romanian leu-denominated loans were at RON79.8 billion end-October, down 0.9% from September, while hard currency loans, when expressed in lei, rose 2.2% on the month to RON121.4 billion. Expressed in euros, foreign currency loans were down 0.1% on the month in October.

Compared with the same month of 2008, hard currency loans, when expressed in lei, were up 13.3% in October, while leu-denominated loans fell 10.9%. When expressed in euros, forex-denominated loans dropped 3.5% on the year in October.

In October, government credit was at RON39.8 billion, down 7.4% on the month. However, compared with October 2008, government credit surged 218.2%, according to central bank data.

Deposits of non-government resident customers rose 0.2% on the month in October to RON162.1 billion.