Romanians count bigger bad debt in first month of 2012

More Romanians were unable to pay their bank loans on time in the first month of 2012, than in the last month of 2011. Overdue loans exceeded EUR 5 billion in January in Romania, up EUR 200 million compared to the month before, according to data from the Romanian Central Bank. Bad debt reached 10 percent of the total loans in the country, which stood at EUR 51.2 billion at the end of January, slightly down compared to the end of 2011. In December last year, bad debt was of EUR 4.6 billion, accounting for 7.7 percent of the total loans in the country. Overdue loans went up by EUR 1.1 billion last year, an average of EUR 90 million a month. At the end of 2010, the weighting of overdue loans was of 6.3 percent. The total value of loans in Romania stood at EUR 51.3 billion at the end of last year. The data on overdue loans refers to borrowers with a debt to a single bank, of at least RON 20,000. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: sxc.hu)