♦ The average interest rate on new corporate loans in lei exceeded 9%, more than double the interest rate on loans for companies in euros, which fluctuates around 4%, according to BNR data ♦ The slowdown in lending to companies in lei came not only on the background of high interest rates in lei, but also in the context of the disappearance of government programs with guarantees from the IMM Invest series, currently the Guarantee Fund of Loans for SMEs with no executive management ♦ In recent years there has been a disconnection between the banking system and the economy, which seems to be accentuated in the context of high interest rates in lei, while the relationship between the state and banks has greatly strengthened in terms of financing, on the level of government bonds ♦ The number of companies that have loans has not yet exceeded 200,000 in Romania ♦ And the annual growth rate of total private credit (retail and corporate) slowed down in September, falling to 7.5% (-2.2% in real terms).
Companies' appetite for financing in lei decreased sharply. Companies continue to increasingly prefer loans in foreign currency, with lower interest rates, in the context of maintaining high interest rates on financing in lei, the annual rate of growth of corporate loans in foreign currency reaching around 14% at the end of the first nine months of this year, while the speed of corporate loans in lei slowed down sharply, falling into the negative territory, to -1%, as can be seen from the BNR data. The average interest rate on new corporate loans in lei exceeded 9% (9.2% in August), more than double the interest rate on corporate loans in euros, which fluctuates around 4% (4.5% in August), according to BNR data. High interest rates reduce the appetite for loans in lei and send companies to foreign currency loans, where interest rates are lower.
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