The EU’s Competition Directorship refused to validate as legal the recapitalization initiative of one of the two Romanian banks through which the state plans to save the economy. Instead, Ireland gets, as an “incentive” to review the referendum of the Lisbon Treaty approval, the go-ahead for state aids to a similar bank, eight times larger than the funds requested by the Romanian government for CEC Bank. With a state... [...]

The first loan contract for the “First House” programme was signed on the 8th of July, and BRD Romania is the first banking institution which signed the first warranty convention with the Romanian state. The other credit institutions wait their turn, but not before the Warranty Fund clarifies a series of obscure points in the treaty. The Romanian government received offers from 20 banks for credits, in total value of 1.4 billion... [...]

According to the Banking Risks Principal Office, this year’s unpaid debts formed 2.5% of the total of loans. Even more, 200.000 people were in default for loans of over 20.000 RON, meaning almost 20% of the clients in this loan margin. Comparative to the values recorded last year, the number of bad loaners doubled, from 1.15% to 2.5% in the period of May 2008 – May 2009. BNR (Romanian National Bank) data shows that at the end of... [...]

The mix formed by the financial crisis and the new regulation of the National Bank concerning the loans seem to be fatal for the crediting system in Romania. Even the bankers recognize it and they appreciate that if those two events hadn’t taken place in the same time, the loaning wouldn’t have frozen, it would have just slowed down.  October is considered one of the blackest periods since the post Decembrist loaning period,... [...]

The repeated increase for interests to deposits seems to have touched at least partial the goal. Romanians begin to deposit their savings in bank lured by the profitability of the placement. Moreover, the Romanian leu is preferred when it comes about deposits, however it isn’t chosen when it comes about loans. In other words, we save money in lei, but we take loans in foreign currency. At the end of June, the deposits in banks, in lei... [...]

Even if the yearly installment of inflation got lower in the last month of last year from 6,67% in November till 6,57%, the level is with more than a percentage point over the maximum limit of the aimed interval by the National Bank. More, the estimations show that 2008 is another year in which the target will be missed. The National Bank missed for the second time in 2007 the inflation target. In 2005, the established target of BNR was... [...]

The loans of small values, granted fast for short terms but at higher costs than at banks, this is the key of success of the most non banking financial institutions. Almost weekly it is spoken about the join on the market of a new NBFI, prove that there is still room for this type of activities. And the fight for each customer is worth, in conditions in which there are cases when the returned sum is more then double than the loaned one.... [...]

The National Bank of Romania (BNR) injected, on Monday, 3.09 billion lei (EUR1=RON4.1325) into the monetary market in a one-week repurchase agreement operation. The central bank bought state treasuries from eight lenders and will sell them back February 15, at an annual yield of 7%, equal to the key monetary policy rate.   On February 1, the central bank pumped RON9.24 billion into the market in a similar repo, at an annual interest... [...]

Time deposit accounts of the population rose in the last nine months by 20.9 billion Lei, which means approximately 5 billion Euros. The greatest rise was recorded among citizens in the capital city, Bucharest, who cumulated, during this time, deposits of 7.7 billion Lei. Analysts consider this was possible because of the salary and pension increase in 2008 and the rate of interest offered by financial institutions. Time deposits in banks... [...]

Romania's privatization authority AVAS asks for the declassification of the documents of former state-owned lender Banca Romana de Comert Exterior, or Bancorex, between 1968 and 1989, including, among others, the country’s import-export plans or the population’s revenues and expenses. "AVAS considers as necessary the declassification of all documents administered by former Bancorex between 1968-1989. (…) Of course, it... [...]