Banks remain pessimistic about lending comeback, BNR study finds

Banks active in Romania don't expect a comeback in the lending activity in the following period, as the second quarter of the year brought along tougher lending conditions, found a survey by the Romanian Central Bank (BNR). However, mortgage loans will be the exception. Around 25 percent of banks have increase the premiums placed on riskier loans, while enforcing the requests for collateral. The demand for loans for houses and land plots stayed in the negative area in the second quarter of the year, against banks' optimistic expectations. This was mainly due to the drop in trust in the general economic situation and in consumers' future revenues. On the short term, banks don't foresee a comeback of real estate lending. The price adjustment tendency continued in the second quarter of the year- two years since it started, according to BNR. The price correction will continue in the third quarter, banks expect. As for mortgage lending, some of the banks (17 percent) have cut the cost of lending, others than interests, after keeping them at the same level for one year and a half. Consumer loans saw a drop in demand for credit cards and for mortgage-backed consumer loans. Companies however started to demand more loans in the second quarter of the year, compared to the first, which interrupted the series of decline. However, banks don't expect a further increase in lending based on this demand for the following three months.