Romania’s banking system records EUR 1 bln profit

The Romanian banking system saw a profit of over EUR 1 billion last year, after record losses of about EUR 1 billion in 2014. The local banks had a profit of about EUR 180 million after the first quarter of 2015. This climbed up to EUR 270 million at the end of June, and reached over EUR 493 million after the first nine months of the year, reports local Ziarul Financiar. The banking system increased its assets to some EUR 84 billion last year, the maximum of the last eight years. The return on assets, as well as the return on equity were positive last year, reaching 1.35%, respectively 12.8%. The solvency ratio amounted to 17.5% at the end of last year, well above the required minimum of 10%. This indicates that banks have enough room to step up lending to the economy. The number of banks dropped to 36 in 2015. editor@romania-insider.com