BCR's mother-lender grants EUR 350m in credits to companies in Romania

Companies in Romania took a total 8 - 10 billion euros in credits directly from outside the borders and the majority owner of BCR, Austria's Erste Group, granted a total 350 million euros under the form of loans to companies in Romania, declared for NewsIn Dominic Bruynseels, BCR executive head.

The cost of lending will be reduced, added Bruynseels, who said that he does not expect a drop in interest rates for credits, as rates for deposits remain high.

Romania has a huge sum of money for investments, 20 billion euros from the agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and another 30 billion euros from available European funds, reminded the BCR head.

The volume of loans externalized by lenders between 2006 and 2008 amounts to around 35 percent of the credit balance at the end of last year, declared for NewsIn people inside the central lender at the beginning of this month, as the volume of loans stood around 50 billion euros on December 31 2008.

BCR registered a net profit after tax and minority interests of 330.3 million lei (78.3 million euros) in the first quarter of 2009, down 13.7 percent on the similar period of the previous year.

The group's total assets advanced 4 percent in the first three months to 71.865 billion lei from 69.08 billion lei at the end of December.

NewsIn