At the end of the first quarter of this year, the profit in the banking system came to 1.3 billion lei, being by 67.3% higher than in the corresponding period last year. The rise was mainly influenced by the increase in interest income and non-interest income. The interest income grew primarily due to revenues earned from investments in securities and National Bank certificates. Incomes derived from lending and from money deposited at the National Bank of Moldova (mandatory reserves) also rose, IPN reports.
According to the NBM, the increase in profit stemmed from the 104.4% (1.8bn lei) rise in interest income and the 8.8% (94.8m lei) rise in non-interest income. Concomitantly, interest expenses grew by 234.4% or 862.6 million lei, while non-interest expenses (costs related to fees and commissions, administrative costs, impairment of financial and nonfinancial assets, etc.) rose by 28.6% or 455.3 million.
The expired loans and nonperforming loans decreased in absolute value, while the quality indicators of the loan portfolio remained practically at the same level as at the end of the previous year.
The gross (prudential) balance of loans constituted 44.2% of total assets or 61.1 billion lei, decreasing by 0.8% during the analyzed period. The largest decrease during the first three months of 2023 was seen in loans granted to trade – by 284.8 million lei (2.1%) to 13.6 billion, in consumer loans – by 257.6 million lei (2.6%) to 9.8 billion lei, in loans granted to the energy industry – by 194.2 million lei (20.9%) to 733.1 million lei, etc.
The largest rise was witnessed in loans granted to the service sector – by 147.1 million lei (6.4%) to 2.4 billion lei, in loans granted to agriculture – by 134.7 million lei (3.0%) to 4.6 billion lei, in loans granted to individuals performing an activity – by 131.9 million lei (8.1%) to 1.8 billion lei.
During the reference period, the balance of deposits grew by 5.5% or 5.2 billion lei to 100.2 billion lei. The deposits of individuals represented 60.7% of the total deposits; the deposits of legal entities – 38.9%, while bank deposits 0.4%.
Total assets were 138.3 billion lei. They rose by 5.2% in the first quarter of 2023.
Eleven banks licensed by the National Bank of Moldova are currently active in the Republic of Moldova.
