BNR: Banks want to moderately relax lending standards for consumer loans to the population

Banks could take in the first quarter of this year the decision to moderately relax lending standards in case of consumer loans granted to the population, shows a survey conducted by the National Bank of Romania (BNR) on lending to non-financial companies and to the population.

"In accordance with the estimates from the previous quarter, the credit institutions kept unchanged the conditions for lending to the population in Q4 2019, for both property purchase loans and consumer loans. The expectations for the next period (Q1 2020) are to maintain constant credit standards for housing and land loans and moderate relaxation in the case of consumer loans granted to the population," reads the BNR report.

According to the document, for all the companies, the banks expect the lending standards to register a moderate tightening in the first quarter of 2020, an evolution generated by the lending standards related to the short- and long-term loans to be granted to the SMEs.

According to the BNR, the demand for loans for the purchase of housing and land increased significantly in Q4 2019, while the requests for consumer loans granted to the population decreased with the same magnitude. The demand for loans from non-financial companies registered a marginal increase, this evolution at aggregate level being influenced by the demand for long-term loans from small and medium-sized companies, for which also a marginal advance was registered.

The BNR informs that the survey is conducted quarterly by the institution in January, April, July and October. It is based on a questionnaire (published in the analysis of May 2008) that is transmitted to the first 10 banks chosen by the market share related to the lending of companies and of the population. These institutions hold about 80pct of the lending for these sectors. AGERPRES