Romanians owe banks EUR 2 bln in unpaid debts

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BNR data points to a worrisome phenomenon: November brought a record hike in loan arrears in recent years.

Romanians’ loan arrears grew by over EUR 100 M in November 2012. It was the largest hike in recent years, the Central Bank’s data shows, money.ro informs. Thus, one in six Romanians has problems paying their loan installments. More than 740,000 persons are in this situation, the data presented by the National Bank of Romania in its November bulletin shows. The loans whose arrears surpass one month of installments surpassed EUR 2.1 bln towards the end of 2012. Compared to the level registered four years ago, at the onset of the financial crisis, loans with repayment problems grew more than sevenfold. Two thirds of the loan arrears surpassed 3 months of installments. At the same time, loans of more than half a billion Euros were sent to be collected, so that the persons that find themselves on the banks’ black lists will surely be contacted by repossession companies. BNR data points to a worrisome phenomenon: November brought a record hike in loan arrears in recent years. In other developments, RON and forex-denominated consumer loans reached a volume of RON 105.937 bln in November 2012, down by 0.38 per cent month-on-month and up by 1.33 per cent year-on-year, the data published by BNR shows. Thus, consumer loans totaled approximately RON 106.34 bln in October 2012 and over RON 104.5 bln in November 2011. Of the sum of RON 105.937 bln, RON-denominated loans totaled RON 34.487 bln, EUR-denominated loans totaled RON 58.056 bln and other forex-denominated loans totaled RON 13.393 bln, financiarul.ro informs. Compared to November 2011, the volume of RON-denominated consumer loans dropped by 2.26 per cent, while the volume of EUR-denominated loans dropped by 4.72 per cent. Home loans registered a volume of RON 37.4 bln at the end of November 2012, up by 13.44 per cent year-on-year. Of that sum, RON-denominated loans represented RON 1.794 bln, EUR-denominated loans represented RON 31.257 bln and other forex-denominated loans represented RON 4.351 bln.

RON appreciates strongly

The national currency strongly appreciated yesterday. The National Bank of Romania (BNR) posted a reference exchange rate of RON 4.3753/EUR and RON 3.3393/USD today, money.ro informs. It was the highest value against the EUR since April 27, 2012, back when the BNR posted a reference exchange rate of RON 4.3747/EUR. Against the USD it was the highest value since April 30, 2012, back when the exchange rate stood at RON 3.3240/USD. Thus, the national currency returned to being the most attractive in the region, in the context in which a new state bonds tender was organized yesterday, capital.ro informs. Compared to the closing of the interbank trading day on Wednesday, yesterday the RON registered the best evolution in the region, growing by 0.55 per cent, while the PLN and the HUF dropped by a slight 0.05 per cent. The foreigners’ rapidly growing interest for RON-denominated assets grew immediately after the general elections’ results were announced, investors interpreting them as a sign of future stability strengthened by the heightened possibility of reaching a new agreement with the IMF too.