Banks have enough cash and the competition to finance companiesthat survived the crisis is getting tighter, says Laszlo Diosi,head of OTP Bank Romania, a second-ranking player on the Romanianmarket, held by the largest Hungarian financial group.
"There is tough competition over good clients. A good company, withsolid guarantees, can get funding in RON at margins of less thanthree percentage points above the Robor rate (currently at 6.6% atthree months)," Diosi says.
He says companies that kept their turnover above 500,000 euros peryear are usually sound. Small firms on the other hand, have beensignificantly hurt by the crisis and continue to be problematic,which leads to non-performing loans. In fact, companies' depositsare dwindling on the entire market, which means they are usingtheir resources to survive. For instance, OTP refrains fromgranting loans to very small firms.
"Retail lending remains very weak. We have adjusted prices,modified the products, but our sales people continue to say therearen't clients seeking to take out loans, to make investments,"Diosi says.
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