From March 17 to July 31, 2020, banks approved the easing of the conditions of loan agreements with clients in the amount of over 7 billion lei.
This was announced by the President of the National Bank Octavian Armasu, presenting a report on the activities of the National Bank for 2020. According to him, banks received more than 22.6 thousand applications for extending the terms of repayment of loans by 7.5 billion lei (more than 96% of applications and 70% amounts - under contracts with legal entities). About 98% of applications for over 7 billion lei were approved, of which 4.8 billion lei - under contracts with legal entities and almost 2.2 billion lei - under contracts with individuals. According to Armasu, banks met halfway and adjusted the conditions for repayment of loans for 18% of the total loan portfolio of banks for legal entities and 14.9% for individuals. In general, the President of the National Bank noted that 2020, in addition to the pandemic, which significantly affected the country's economy, was distinguished by the completion of the reform cycle. In particular, a program with the IMF was completed, on the basis of which the NBM implemented a package of reforms (legislation was changed, management in banks and in the National Bank was improved, a cleanup was carried out and transparency of shareholders in banks was ensured, etc.). Amendments to the legislation were introduced both within the framework of the Association Agreement and during the implementation of Basel III, which generally improved the functioning of the banking system of Moldova. “The NBM and the country's banks entered the pandemic with sufficient reserves, well prepared, and the NBM promoted an adequate monetary policy. We recommended that banks temporarily refrain from paying dividends and forming their own funds, and the monetary policy of the regulator was aimed at supporting consumption, ”said Armasu. According to the information provided, at the end of 2020, the assets of the banking system amounted to 103.9 billion lei, own funds - 13.6 billion lei, the volume of deposits - 79.6 billion lei, loans - 45.6 billion lei. The National Bank continued to implement measures aimed at supporting the national currency. The volume of loans in lei amounted to 71.8% of the total volume of loans issued last year (in 2019 - 64%), and the volume of deposits in lei - 58.7% (57.4%). Armasu noted that the banking sector is well capitalized, stable and has sufficient liquidity. The share of bad loans is constantly decreasing. After the crisis of 2014-2015, the volume of bad loans increased and reached 18.4% by 2017, and in 2020 this indicator decreased by 7.4%, while bad loans are well secured. The banks' current liquidity at the end of 2020 was 50.6%. At the end of 2020, the NBM's foreign currency reserves reached about $ 3.8 billion, which makes it possible to cover imports within 7.7 months. He also informed the deputies of the commission about the structure of foreign currency reserves, the monetary policy measures taken, about the development of existing and implementation of new interbank payment systems, presented the situation regarding the return of funds withdrawn from BEM, Banca Socială and Unibank. At the end of 2020, these banks returned 2.6 billion lei. 63 lawsuits were initiated in the amount of 4.1 billion lei, and 239 debtors of banks are in the process of insolvency (4.4 billion lei). Investigative bodies are investigating criminal cases worth 50 billion lei. At the end of 2020, 441 orders of execution were issued for the fulfillment of obligations in the amount of 1.6 billion lei.// 01.12.2021 — InfoMarket
