Over a third of Romanians would renovate their homes if they had RON 10,000 (some EUR 2,250) available, some 31% would repay their loans while 30% would save the money. Almost a quarter (24.2%) of Romanian say they would use the RON 10,000 to go on their dream holiday and 18.5% would invest in a family business, according to an online survey made for Provident Financial Romania, a company that specializes in individual loans.

However, for many Romanians this is only a dream, as over a quarter (26%) of all respondents said they would never be able to save RON 10,000 under current circumstances, and one in five (19.2%) said they would need five years to get this sum together. Another quarter said they would need 2 to 3 years to save RON 10,000 while less than 28% consider they would set this money aside in one year or less.

Even so, Romanians are not that keen to borrow money anymore. Almost one in four (37.4%) said they wouldn’t take a consumer loan, and a similar percentage (39.5%) said they would only borrow small amounts of up to RON 10,000.

Almost one in five Romanians (19.7%) think that loans equal burdens and 26% consider that taking loans would be risky in the current economic environment. Some 27% see consumer credit as a way to cover urgent needs while 23% see it as a way to get more money fast, which would be impossible from their monthly income.

The results reflect the Romanians new view about credit, after the financial crisis. Many Romanians had borrowed from banks and nonbanking financial institutions before 2008 lured in by low interest rates and the perspective of increasing salaries, only to become trapped in paying high monthly installments after the crisis altered the market conditions increasing the credit costs.

When asked what their most expensive purchase was in the last year, more than one in five (20.6%) Romanians said that they bought smartphones, 14.4% said they bought appliances, 13.2% bought laptops or PCs, 11.6% purchased cars, and only 8.4% bought houses.

Some 670 people were questioned in this survey.

Romanians spend 17% of their money on taxes

editor@romania-insider.com