BNR survey shows banks anticipating moderate tightening of credit standards in Q3, regardless of company size

Banks in Romania foresee that lending conditions will be left unchanged over the next quarter - Q3 2019 - for both types of loans to households, mortgage and consumer loans. As for non-financial corporations, banks anticipate a moderate tightening of credit standards, regardless of the company size, according to a lending survey conducted by the National Bank of Romania (BNR). The survey says that credit standards on loans to households, i.e. consumer credit and loans for house and land purchase, remained unchanged in 2019 Q2. Similarly, as far as non-financial corporations were concerned, credit standards held steady. Households' demand for loans for house and land purchase dropped moderately, whereas that for consumer credit rose significantly. Non-financial corporations' loan demand stepped up markedly at aggregate level, particularly due to small- and medium-sized enterprises. Looking at large companies, demand for short-term loans contracted marginally, while that for long-term loans edged mildly higher. For the period ahead - Q3 2019 - credit institutions envisage household demand for housing loans to stay put and that for consumer credit to rise moderately. Turning to non-financial corporations, banks anticipate a marginal advance for both long- and short-term loans over the next three-month period. AGERPRES (RO - author: George Banciulea, editor: Oana Tilica; EN - author: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu, editor: Adina Panaitescu)