Economy minister expects lager volume of loans will be taken out in 2013

The economic entities in 2013 will be able to access a larger volume of loans than last year, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Valeriu Lazar said, quoted by Info-Prim Neo. In an interview for Radio Moldova, the official said the banking sector should modernize its instruments for insuring the lending risks. “Currently, all these risks are present and the debates between economic entities and banks are interminable: the first say they do not have good lending conditions, while the banking sector says they do not have good projects to finance,” said Lazar. According to him, not the interest rate on loans, but the maturity of loans is the most serious problem. “Most of the economic entities in Moldova need investment money for 3-5-7 years. Regretfully, the banking sector of Moldova cannot offer it at the moment. Another problem is the access to resources of the starting companies that do not have creditworthiness histories and pledges,” said the minister. Valeriu Lazar said the Ministry of Economy will develop the Guarantee Fund of the Organization for the Development of the SME Sector. This year, the Government increased the budget allocations to this fund. National Bank governor Dorin Dragutanu said the bank has worked out a bill with amendments to the Law on the Pledge, whereby the list of facilities that can be pledged is extended. The period for which the loans are granted to companies is increased, while the interest decreased, reaching a historical low of 11.98% last December. The volume of new loans granted by banks in 2012 fell by 9.8%. The central bank said this is due to the fact that some of the economic entities reduced their activity following the crisis and the internal demand for loans diminished. On the other hand, the banks became more attentive and analyze the presented projects and the repayment risks very carefully.