The stock of bank loans increased by 15.7% in March compared to the same period in 2021 (YoY) to RON 336.1 bln (some EUR 67 mln), the National Bank of Romania (BNR) announced.

In real terms, the growth was still a significant 5% YoY. The nominal pace remained roughly at the same level compared to the 15.8% YoY advance at the end of February and 15% YoY at the end of January.

The stock of loans denominated in local currency increased faster than the average by 20% to RON 244.4 mln, while the loans expressed in foreign currency increased by only 5.6% to RON 91.7 bln.

The corporate loans denominated in local currency surged by 27% YoY to RON 104.0 bln, driven by the Government-backed schemes providing guarantees for investment and working capital loans.

Regarding the bank deposits of non-governmental clients, they increased by 11.1% YoY, respectively by 0.9% in real terms, to RON 478.6 bln.

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iulian@romania-insider.com