“Banks have increased their balance on the state. The risks they take have decreased a lot,” says a director of the National Bank

We have a very big problem with the lack of capital of companies: one third of the Romanian companies have the capital below the regulated limit, said Matei Kubinschi, the deputy director of the Financial Stability Directorate of the NBR, at the ZF Bankers Sumitt Conference.

These companies are of great importance in the economy, but they are practically not credible because it is natural for a bank to be reluctant to credit a company that the shareholder only borrows, does not want to make a capitalization, does not have a long-term vision, says the deputy from financial stability.

This problem is a structural one, which appears in all reports of the Department of Financial Stability.

“We mention it all the time, but it does not improve. Moreover, the latest data we have, we see a worsening discipline, we see a very high increase in the supplier and the state by 22% and an increase in insolvency,” says Kubinschi.

We see that in the sector of non -financial companies, some deterioration is already materialized.

We have 24,000 such companies. And they, although they are 24,000, concentrate 23% of non -performing loans. So practically they are very relevant.

The BNR official says that we are not in an economic crisis and we are not in a financial crisis, but things are in a difficult context, especially at international level. “We have a historical uncertainty due to the overlapping geopolitical crises, over which, more recently, this year has come the paradigm change of the American administration, commercial protectionism, which already produces direct, but also indirect effects, especially by increasing political uncertainty,” says the BNR representative.

The cumulation of the effects of the commercial tariffs imposed by President Trump confirms a negative impact on the economic growth in Romania between 0.17-0.26 percentage points, shows an analysis by the experts of the National Bank, consulted by HotNews. That is exactly the growth of Romania's economy from the first quarter of this year.

Almost two thirds of this impact comes from indirect exposure through European value chains, which confirms the importance of positioning Romania as an intermediate supplier in the commercial structures of the euro area, the document shows. The analysis is based on the data of April 30, 2025.

“The economic growth is embedded by this fiscal problem that we do not know how the future government will manage”

“The slowing of the economic growth is somewhat natural, but at this moment it is embedded by this fiscal problem that we do not know how the future government will manage. It is very important to see the mix of measures because as the governor said, always a adjustment package, especially the expense cuts, has a recessionary effect, It's the final policy mix, ”says Matei Kubinschi

In his opinion, the relationship between the state and the banks has been greatly consolidated over the last few years. “If in 2007 we started from a level of below 5% today we are somewhere over 30% of the banks' balance as a total assets, ie guarantees offered by the state, portfolio of titles,” says the NBR official.

Banks increased their balance sheet on account of the state. The risks they take have decreased a lot.

The evolution can be argued by several arguments, considers the deputy director of stability. “First of all, we have the increase of the state financing need and this will continue until we manage to solve the problem of the budget deficit. And on the part of the guarantee programs the evolution was welcome, because the Prima House program, for example, came in a moment of uncertainty, in which the real estate market was very low,” he said.

Similarly, IMM Invest, IMM Invest Plus programs have provided liquidity in a period of extraordinary uncertainty, such as pandemic. What those I mean is that the context was a fully argued one.

Now we see that the risks that the banks take have have dropped a lot, says Kubinschi.

“If in 2008 the general risk rate was over 50% now now is below 30% so we virtually see a massive decrease in the risk that banks have in their portfolios and I think in the future it is very important for the banking sector to enter into a Lazy Banking type paradigm. National.

He says it is very important for banks to find that optimal between risks and lending the real economy. “Because Romania has a very big problem with financial intermediation. It is the lowest in Europe and there are no signs of improvement, and lately this indicator has decreased,” concludes Kubinschi.