The non-governmental loans in local currency lei increased by 7.5% over a 12-month period ended March 2015, to RON 94.7 billion (EUR 21.3 billion), according to the Romanian central bank’s statistics.This increase was due to higher lending to individuals and households.

The household loans in local currency went up by 17.4% in the last year, to RON 41.6 billion (some EUR 9.3 billion). Local currency loans for companies were almost flat (up by 0.8%) in the past 12 months, at RON 53.2 billion (EUR 12 billion).

The higher lending in local currency was offset by a decline in foreign currency loans, which went down by 10.8% from March 2013 to March 2014, to RON 115.8 billion (EUR 26 billion).The foreign currency loans for households declined by 9.3% while those granted to companies went down by 12.4%.

Overall, the total banking loans in Romania were down 3.4% in the past 12 months, to RON 210.5 billion (EUR 47.3 billion).

editor@romania-insider.com