Solvency in the Romanian banking system slips to 12.03% in March, central bank announces

The solvency rate in Romania's banking system sloped to 12.03 percent in March from 12.34 percent at the end of last year, an effect of the higher risk provisions for non-performing loans, the central bank BNR said.

The minimum solvency level is 8 percent, but the central bank is cautious and requires a 10 percent one. The first quarter profitability rate of core activity, assessed as a rapport between incomes and operating spending, reduced to 174.93 percent in March from 179.56 percent in December last year, the central bank says.

What's more, assets of banks in Romania, including the subsidiaries of foreign lenders, hiked slightly to 332.46 billion lei at the end of March, from 314.64 billion lei at the end of last year, but lost 0.56 percent in the first quarter to 78.5 billion euros over the end of last year, by value calculated in euros.

Private capital lenders in Romania controlled 93.6 percent of the total assets at the end of the first quarter, 1.1 percentage points down from the December last year.

The loan/deposit ratio reached 124.66 percent at the end of March, 2.6 percentage points hike over the end of 2008 and 8.56 percentage points higher than the similar month last year.

About 0.66 percent of the total loans granted by banks are labeled as overdue, double over the end of 2008 and triple over past March.

The Romanian banking system counted 43 lenders at the end of last year, out of which 11 were branches of foreign banks, one more than at the end of last year.

NewsIn