Romania’s Finance Ministry allotted yesterday additional guarantees to local banks for the First House program, after the total guarantee ceiling for 2016 was increased by RON 500 million (EUR 110.7 million).

The banks that received additional guarantees include Alpha Bank, Creditcoop, Banca Romaneasca, Banca Transilvania, Bancpost, Leumi, BCR, BRD, CEC, Credit Agricole, Garanti, ING Bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, Marfin, OTP Bank, Piraeus Bank, Raiffeisen Bank, and UniCredit Bank.

The Ministry has decided to increase the ceiling for the First House program due to the high number of requests from the program’s beneficiaries, according to the Finance Ministry. Almost 182,000 guarantees have been issued so far within the program, totaling over EUR 3.5 billion. Based on these guarantees, local banks have granted mortgage loans worth over EUR 6.9 billion.

The First House program is the only solution for many Romanians to get a mortgage loan and buy a house. Under this program, the state guarantees half of the mortgage loans’ value for people who buy their first houses using credit.

The loans granted within this framework have lower interest rates and lower down payments (only 5% of the property value).

editor@romania-insider.com