The increase in non-performing loans - one of the risks of the banking system this year
Recorded by Emilia Olescu (TRANSLATED BY COSMIN GHIDOVEANU)
• (Interview with Gabriela Folcuţ, Executive Director of the Romanian Banking Association)
An increase in the volume of non-performing loans is one of this year s risks for the banking system, Gabriela Folcuţ, Executive Director of the Romanian Banking Association (ARB) told us. The Balance of Non-Governmental credit evolved by 5.5% in 2020, as the economy contracted by 5.2%, according to estimates. Thus, paradoxically, we could also witness an increase in the degree of financial intermediation, up from 25%. .
In 2021, lending is expected to record a growth rate at least equal to that of 2020, but this sector is also affected by uncertainties related to the evolution of pandemic. One of the identified risks is that of an increase in of non-performing loan ratio.
Sursa foto: ziarulevenimentul.ro
Less than 20% of all homes in Romania were insured in 2020 against certain risks, and more than half of Romanians (54%) say they are worried about the danger of an earthquake, according to a survey commissioned by National Union of Insurance and Reinsurance Companies in Romania (UNSAR) and conducted in 2020 by the Romanian Institute for Evaluation and Strategy (IRES).
UNSAR data submitted to AGERPRES on Thursday mark 44 years since a 7.2-magnitude earthquake hit Romania on March 4, 1977 leaving a tragic toll behind both in human casualties and social and economic destruction, including 1,600 human fatalities and 35,000 destroyed properties.
In Romania, the share of housing covered by an insurance policy is still low, with just less than 20% of them being protected, despite an increase by three percentage points, in 2020 from 2019, of the stated interest of Romanians in housing and property insurance.