Supply of loans is sufficient, central bank governor

There is no deficit of supply of loans on the market, but a deficit of demand of loans, the governor of the National Bank of Moldova Dorin Dragutanu said when asked by reporters to comment on economic entities' complaints about the difficulties they encounter when applying for bank loans, Info-Prim Neo reports. “There is no deficit of loans, but a deficit of demand as the banks cannot provide loans to insolvent companies that need money to pay their debts. The loans are granted on the basis of interesting and viable projects that can bring advantages to the companies, the banks and the national economy in general,” he said. Dragutanu also said that despite the fact that some of the entrepreneurs face difficulties in accessing loans, the volume of new loans granted in national currency by banks is on the rise. In the second quarter of this year, this volume was twice larger than in the corresponding period last year, while in the third quarter was 62.2% up. The volume of loans released by banks by September 30 was 24.4 billion lei, an increase of 11% compared with December 2009. The interest rates on loans granted in economy have decreased. This September, the weighted average interest rate on loans was 15.8%, down 3.24% on last September.