The demand for loans has plunged below 25% of the average level for this time of the year, amid the state of emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, estimates Banca Transilvania CEO, Omer Tetik.

However, he believes there's nothing bad about this.

"On the lending side, there was a sharp drop in demand. It is a natural reaction to the state of emergency," Tetik said, according to local Ziarul Financiar.

On the one hand, people do not leave their houses, some of them have no financial power or are not willing to invest, while others are waiting, he explained.

"I think that's good logic. In this period of high price volatility, it may not be a good idea to make some big investment decisions. We still give loans, but the amounts are under a quarter of what we saw before," said the Banca Transilvania official.

Banca Transilvania is the biggest lender in Romania by assets, and local investors hold over 60% of its shares.

editor@romania-insider.com

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