Moldovans trust banks despite crisis, survey

In spite of pessimistic expectations, the banking system in Moldova seems to remain in the eyes of the population as stable as before the crisis, according to a survey included in the 2009 State of the Country Report, which was presented on Thursday by the Independent Analytical Center Expert-Group, Info-Prim Neo reports. The poll, which surveyed 1070 respondents, indicates that the overall confidence of the people in banks hasn't changed almost at all since 2007. According to the survey, 3 percent of the respondents have full confidence in banks, 26 percent trust banks to some extent, and 29 percent trust them to a fair extent. The respondents who trust banks most live in Chisinau and have monthly salaries higher than 3000 lei. Analysts at Expert-Grup have found that although the banks are the main pillar of the internal financial system the loans offered by them slightly exceeded 41 percent of the GDP in 2008. This level of financial penetration is very low even compared to the modest performance levels of the transition countries, which showed an average 67.5 percent at the end of 2008. The biggest part of the capital investments in Moldova are made from own resources and to a much smaller degree from loans. In 2009, when lending activity was restricted, own resources accounted for 58 percent of the total capital investments. Expert-Group executive director Valeriu Prohnitchi, who co-authored the report, thinks that Moldova needs to restore the banking system to its pre-crisis position so that it could provide the investment resources needed for the growth of the real economy. Otherwise the economic recovery would be slow and long-lasting.