Romania's new law on giving in payment will also apply to First House loans

The MPs in the Romanian Senate’s Budget and Judicial Committees decided yesterday that the new law that enforces giving in payment as a way to get rid of mortgage loans should also apply to the loans granted through the First House program, despite an opposite recommendation by Romania’s National Bank (BNR). If the First House program doesn’t keep the state’s guarantee, the program will be destroyed, said the BNR’s deputy governor Bogdan Olteanu. “In the current form, the program is canceled for the future whereas for the past, the state will be in default.” Almost 160,000 people contracted loans through the First House mortgage lending program, and the non-performing loans ratio reached 0.04% at the end of 2015, said Liviu Voinea, BNR’s deputy governor, reports local Agerpres. At the end of 2015, some 474,400 people had loans secured by mortgage totaling EUR 17.2 billion. Of the total, some 174,000 debtors had mortgage loans, 155,000 had other types of real estate loans, and 163,000 had consumer loans secured by mortgage. Most people had loans in foreign currency, namely 316,000 persons, and 10% contracted loans in Swiss francs, with a total value of EUR 1.6 billion. Most loans were below EUR 150,000, said the BNR vice-governor Voinea. editor@romania-insider.com