Romanian banks strengthen corporate loans portfolio by one fifth in one year

The stock of bank loans to non-financial Romanian companies soared by 19.4% yoy, or RON 23.9 bln (EUR 4.6 bln), over the past 12 months to November, according to data from Romania's National Bank (BNR). In absolute terms, it reached RON 147.3 bln (EUR 29.8 bln) at the end of November.

The loans denominated in local currency increased by over one quarter (+25.2% yoy) and account for 62% - or nearly two-thirds - of the total corporate loans portfolio.

In contrast, retail lending (to households) lost momentum to 9.5% yoy at the end of November, despite significant support from the mortgage lending (+13.1% yoy) that offset the sluggish consumer lending (+5.5% yoy). Overall, the stock of loans to households reached RON 163.9 bln (EUR 33.1 bln).

Summing up all the non-government credit, banks’ loan portfolio expanded by 14.6% yoy to nearly RON 322 bln (EUR 65.0 bln), or 27.7% of GDP as calculated by the BNR. The financial intermediation edged up by only 0.4pp from 26.7% at the end of 2020. The ratio is still some 10pp below the 37.7% record reached in 2009, as the nominal GDP has advanced over the past decade driven by other factors than lending.

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