BNR: Romania Private Lending Falls 0.7% In July

08.26.2014 By Bogdan Neagu

Romanian private lending went down 0.7% on the month in real terms in July, after a 0.4% fall in June, as a small increase in leu loans could not offset the persistent decline in foreign currency lending.

At the end of July, the total amount of loans granted to households and corporate clients reached 213.8 billion lei (EUR48.5 billion), compared with RON215.4 billion in the previous month, central bank data showed Tuesday.

Private loans in Romanian lei rose 0.8% on the month, but foreign currency loans were down 1.7% when expressed in lei and 2.5% when expressed in euros.

Compared with July 2013, non-government lending fell 4.3% in real terms. Loans in Romanian lei rose 7.6% on the year in July, but forex loans declined 10.8% when expressed in lei and 11% when expressed in euros.

Deposits of non-government resident customers inched 0.1% higher on the month to RON214.3 billion in July.

End-July, government credit reached RON79 billion, up 7.9% in real terms from the year-earlier month. (EUR1=RON4.3947)