Volume of bank loans in Romania grows slower than inflation

The stock of bank loans in Romania increased by 7.9% y/y to RON 372.4 bln (EUR 74.9 bln) at the end of May, the National Bank of Romania (BNR) announced. The advance was slower compared to the 10.6% y/y inflation.

Particularly retail lending lost momentum, while the stock of corporate loans edged up marginally in real terms.

Thus, the consumer loans (RON 63.1 bln) and mortgage loans (RON 104.9 bln) increased by less than 1% y/y and, in fact, stagnated since last autumn, thus shrinking in real terms by some 9% y/y each.

Actually, the volume of retail loans failed to catch up with inflation before the beginning of 2022.

The volume of corporate loans (RON 185 bln) increased by 13.7% y/y as of the end of May, marking a real positive advance of 2.8% y/y.

But even the volume of corporate loans has stagnated in real terms since the autumn of 2022, and the positive real growth reflects the advance during last summer. Notably, the corporate loans expressed in euros surged by 46% y/y to RON 83.3 bln at the end of May, while the local currency corporate loans contracted by 3.6% y/y to RON 98.2 bln.

Overall, the stock of bank loans denominated in local currency remained roughly constant (+0.2% y/y) at RON 251.6 bln, while the debtors preferred the foreign currency-denominated loans (+28.2% y/y on average, to RON 120.8 bln).

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