Romanian Central Bank vice-governor: 88 branches shut down and 3,100 staff fired due to crisis

„Romanian banks slowed their growth rhythm 9 folds in the first nine months of the year and the dynamics of the banks’ balance sheet increased only by 3%, in contrast with 30%, the figure recorded one year ago. The number of units decreased by 88, and the number of employees record 3,180 less”, the Romanian Central Bank (BNR) vice-governor Florin Georgescu declared on Tuesday, November 10.

According to the BNR official, local banks received capitals worth of over 308 million euros in the first nine months of 2009, out of which 255 million euros were received after signing the Wien agreement. The agreement consolidated the engagements of the biggest nine banks operating on the Romanian market.

The deposits the banks attracted from people and companies increased by 6% only, in comparison with 22.4% recorded on October 1 2009. The state titles operations increased by over 300%, according to Florin Georgescu.

The BNR vice-governor indicated that the quality of the banks’ credits portfolio worsened due to the financial crisis: the credits facing issues multiplied four times, from 2.5% to 10.4%.

„As long as the solvability index looks good it means that this deterioration was compensated in time by the increase in capital banks recorded”, BNR vice-governor concluded.