Saving in Romania
Before the banking industry in Romania rolled out its saving offers in foreign currency, Romanians could only keep their savings in lei, the same currency in which their income was paid. Before the diversification of the local banking system, natural persons and companies would keep their cash savings ‘in a pile under the mattress’ or at CEC (today CEC Bank). Afterwards, the US dollar, euro and “exotic currencies” (Swiss franc and Japanese Yen) crept in banks’ products and services.
Today, savings in bank deposits tend to broaden, especially in terms of currencies. Romanians usually choose to keep their money in euro or US dollars due to the sharp devaluation of the leu against the two currencies over the past years.
| 30.09.2009 | 30.09.2008 | 30.09.2007 |
Deposits in lei | 100.61bln lei | 95.4 bln lei | 75.2 bln lei |
Deposits in Fx | 61.08 bln lei | 49.98 bln lei | 34.45 bln lei |
TOTAL | 161.69 bln lei | 145.38 bln lei | 109.65 bln lei |
The migration from domestic to foreign currency was observed also by the senior economist of the National Bank of Romania, Valentin Lazea. This change will minimize bank’s capacity in giving loans in domestic currency, he said.
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