First Home 4 Start Delayed: Government Has Yet To Publish Framework Agreement

05.11.2011 ZF English

The "First Home" scheme is officially frozen, as banks have exhausted the EUR200-million sum earmarked at the start of the year and the fourth stage cannot start since the protocol of co-operation with the SME Loan Guarantee Fund, the institution managing state guarantees, has not been published in the Official Gazette.

Moreover, bankers also need to get BNR's approval for the modification of internal lending norms, since requiring a down payment of just 5%, as the Government asks, in parallel with assuming 50% of the loan-related risk, breaches common stipulations.

In early April, Premier Emil Boc announced the fourth edition would start right after Easter holidays, but there is no clear perspective, yet, about the moment banks can start selling state-guaranteed mortgages again.

So far, only Banca Transilvania and CEC Bank have notified the Fund about their intention to participate in First Home 4.

However, BCR and BRD, the banks with the biggest volumes of loans sold in the previous editions of the scheme, as well as Alpha Bank, Bancpost and Millennium Bank, have joined the unofficial list.