Moldova has a stable banking sector with reliable functionality, providing support to the national economy and citizens - Octavian Armasu.
The Governor of the National Bank of Moldova said this in an interview with one of the Moldovan media outlets while describing the current state of the country's banking sector. He noted that in the context of the pandemic, the banking sector in Moldova continued, mainly, its positive evolution, becoming more consolidated, thanks to the banks' ability to prudently manage their activities and as a result of the supervision activities of the National Bank. Speaking about the indicators for the first quarter of this year, the head of the BNM noted that banks' assets increased by 605.2 million lei (+ 0.6%) - up to 104 billion 528.8 million lei, and loans also increased - by 993.9 million lei (+ 2.2%) - up to 46 billion 643.1 million lei. As in other periods, the largest increase in the loan portfolio was recorded for loans issued for the purchase or construction of real estate - by 460.7 million lei (+ 5.8%), and on consumer loans - by 373.2 million lei (+5 %). The share of problem loans in the total volume of loans decreased by 0.2 percentage points, amounting to 7.2%. The share of overdue loans in the total volume of loans also slightly decreased - from 4.5% to 4.4%. As Octavian Armasu noted, the increase in deposits of individuals by 1 billion 227.3 million lei (+ 2.4%) - up to 51 billion 996.7 million lei, testifies to the confidence of citizens in banks, and the high level of liquidity indicates that the banking sector can avoid the risk associated with this. Thus, the current liquidity was 50.4% (limit ≥20%), and the long-term liquidity ratio was 0.7 (limit ≤1). At the same time, deposits of legal entities decreased by 1 billion 793.5 million lei (-6.2%) - to 26 billion 934 million lei as a result of a decrease in the balance on current accounts of clients due to the implementation of current payments. As of March 31, 2021, the annual profit of the banking sector in Moldova amounted to 422.4 million lei. Compared to the same period last year, it decreased by 9.9 million lei (-2.3%), due to an increase in non-interest expenses, mainly due to an increase in administrative expenses. As for the return on assets and return on equity, they decreased slightly - by 0.3 percentage points and 1.4 percentage points, respectively, amounting to 1.6% and 9.3%, respectively. “Thus, we have a stable banking sector with reliable functionality, providing support to the national economy and citizens,” stated the Governor of the NBM. // 29.06.2021 - InfoMarket
