Future opportunities for Romanian banks: SMEs and farming

The Romanian banking system as a whole and most of its participants have reached their highest point so far taking into account that none of the Romanian banks signals risks of bankruptcy or instability, the head of the Romanian Banking Association (ARB) Radu Ghetea says in an interview for Hotnews.ro.

The health shown by the system in general these days is given by the decision of Romanian authorities to privatize most of Romanian banks, from the Romanian Commercial Bank – BCR to Bancpost and the Romanian Bank for Development – BRD, he says.

Another factor is the structure of the Romanian banking system, dominated by strong, internationally reputed foreign banks bringing funds, know-how and technology to the Romanian market. And even the all-Romanian banks prove a considerable capacity to adapt to the new circumstances, especially the increasing foreign competition, according to Ghetea.

The ARB head believes that for the time being the banking demand is higher than the offer but that there has been a tendency of lowering prices for banking services. He believes the retail boom will come to a saturation and Romanian banks will have to focus on other slices of the market, such as farming loans and especially new services for small and medium enterprises.

He also says he does not believe the Romanian National Bank will have the necessary time to adjust the monetary policy.