Deposit 
Romania January Private Lending Down 1.5 percent, On Month. Deposits Down 1.8 percent
According to the central bank data, Romanian private lending fell 1.5% in real terms to 207.8 billion lei (EUR1=RON4.23) in January from a month earlier, but was up 4.3% on the year. On the other hand, deposits of non-government resident customers declined 1.8% on the month to RON174.3 billion in January, but were up 6,1% on the year. Private loans in Romanian lei declined 1.3% on the month to RON76.9 billion in January, while foreign currency loans decreased by 0.8% when expressed in lei. When expressed in euros, forex loans nudged down 0.1% in January. Compared with January 2010, loans in Romanian lei fell 4.2% in January, whereas hard currency loans rose 10% when expressed in lei . The deposits in lei went down 2% on the month to RON111.2 billion in January, while foreign currency deposits declined 1,3% when expressed in lei to RON63.09. When expressed in euros, forex deposits decreased by 0.6% in January. Compared with January... citeste mai mult
Romanians have saved up more than five billion Euros, since the beginning of 2009
Time deposit accounts of the population rose in the last nine months by 20.9 billion Lei, which means approximately 5 billion Euros. The greatest rise was recorded among citizens in the capital city, Bucharest, who cumulated, during this time, deposits of 7.7 billion Lei. Analysts consider this was possible because of the salary and pension increase in 2008 and the rate of interest offered by financial institutions. Time deposits in banks advanced due to the increase of savings in the national coin by 12.8 billion Lei and in the foreign currency by 8.1 billion Lei. Compared to last year, the growth rate of deposits in the national currency rose by 46.43%, overtaking foreign currency deposits, of 41.8%. Chief Economist of BCR bank Romania, Lucian Anghel, explains that this is due to last year’s increase in pensions and salaries and that the rate of growth will slowly decrease over the next period. He also noted that this is the first time in many years that... citeste mai mult
Banks fight for Romanians' money using unorthodox metods
In a period in which the subject of the financial crisis started to be debated even on Sunday at the church, when the new norms of credit direct the banking market in a much expected normality and the European officials seem to be more preoccupied than ever to bring order in this sector, the Romanian banks pay more and more attention to the money of Romanians. Step by step, they increase the interests for deposits, either it’s about leu or currency, and the entire marketing policy is at the moment directed for drawing in money from the population. If till a month or two ago the credits were the main goal of the marketing campaigns, starting with a few weeks ago the banks focused on drawing in the savings of the population, for long term. The sites of the banking institutions are full of promotions for deposits and in their customer-rush some banks even infringe the law. It is like when they dress up a deposit with a coat of current account and they promise that they... citeste mai mult
The European Commission proposes a minimal deposit guarantee of 100.000 euro
The European Commission has proposed to increase the minimum deposit guarantee threshold to 100,000 euro in one year, from 20,000 euro at present, while the payout period in the event of bank failure is to be reduced from three months to three days, the Commission said. "The new rules are designed to improve depositor protection and to maintain the confidence of depositors in the financial safety net," the EC said in a report. The EC said that under the new rules, the minimum level of coverage for deposits will be increased within one year from 20,000 euro to 100,000 euro, and initially to 50,000 euro in the intervening period. The proposal now passes to the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers for consideration. In Romania, the government has approved on Tuesday an emergency ordinance to increase the minimum deposit guarantee threshold to 50,000 euro, from 20,000 euro for a one-year period starting October 15. On Monday, central bank governor... citeste mai mult
Citigroup will acquire Wachovia
Citigroup will acquire the banking operations of Wachovia bank, in a deal facilitated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Citigroup will absorb up to $42 billion of losses in the deal, while the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will cover any remaining losses. Citigroup also will grant the FDIC $12 billion. The premises of the transaction are that Wachovia would not fail, that all depositors are protected and there will be no cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund. The sale of Wachovia comes after the governmenti's seizure of Seattle-based Washington Mutual Inc. — the largest bank failure in U.S. history. Even as details of its takeover unfolded, Wachovia shares plunged 87 percent in Monday premarket trading to $1.36. The stock had closed Friday at $10, down 74 percent for the year. Citigroup was in competition with Wells Fargo and Spaini's Banco Santander for the struggling bank. citeste mai mult
Banks have managed to guess the code of Romanians
The repeated increase for interests to deposits seems to have touched at least partial the goal. Romanians begin to deposit their savings in bank lured by the profitability of the placement. Moreover, the Romanian leu is preferred when it comes about deposits, however it isn’t chosen when it comes about loans. In other words, we save money in lei, but we take loans in foreign currency. At the end of June, the deposits in banks, in lei and currency, totalized 21,4 billion euro while the value of the credits was amounted to 23,8 billion euro. From the beginning of the year, most of the commercial banks have announced successively increases for interests to deposits, especially for those in lei, and not once, but almost weekly, so now they’ve reached in case of some promotions, to be between 15-17% for lei. The experts “blame” BNR, explaining that the decisions taken during last months “forced” the banks to seriously think to the money of the... citeste mai mult
The returns of voluntary pensions, similar to banking deposits
The voluntary pension funds had a slow development. In eight months since started the adhesion to the third pillar, the seven funds put aside only 16,4 millions lei. The prudent adhesion is explained especially by the unrolling of the knowledge process. “When these saving instruments will be more known for the employees, as employers too, the number of participants will increase faster. This year participate the employers too, who offer voluntary pensions in the salary packets. Already the employers have another approach, including the pensions on their list of negotiation the labour contracts” Mircea Oancea, SCPPS president explains. According the law, the remunerated up to 52,5 years old can contribute to private voluntary pensions, the level of contributions being of maximum 15% from the gross incomes, and the contributions are deductibles in limit of 200 euro per year, as for employee (by income tax) and for employer (by profit tax). ... citeste mai mult
