Romanians could soon say goodbye to consumer credit granted in the European currency. The rumors that speak of a possible ban come directly from Brussels, where the European Central Bank has thought of banning, in countries where the population does not have income in euros, credits in a currency other than the national one.

Consumer Lending in Crisis

In case official orders come from European institutions, the NBR should act accordingly. Rumor has it that the National Bank officials have already locked themselves in “secret laboratories” where they are working on a set of measures to discourage consumer loans in Euros. At the official level, however, decision-makers remain very reserved in their statements. Neither commercial banks nor the NBR wants to “leave the house” until everything is well-established.

A finance specialist, whose identity was not disclosed, explains to Romania Libera the purpose of the measure restricting loans in Euro: “When it decided to reduce the minimum reserve requirement for foreign currency liabilities, the NBR had a goal.

End of the Euro Loan Era

That goal was to release money to finance the budget deficit. Romania must pay 2.7 billion euros in foreign debt this year. Because the state pays 4-5% for loans, and loans to the population have interest rates of 14-15%, banks could be tempted to use the money released by the NBR to lend to the population, which is why credit in Euro must be limited. This is the meaning of these measures.”

The Romanian, as he is a “brother with the euro”, will suffer a shock when his credit is approved, and he will not receive the European banknotes in his hand to buy a larger plasma. We hope to overcome this shock well and to live our lives as we can, even without benefiting from this banking product so loved by the entire nation, loved even more than the consumer credit in Swiss francs.