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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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