Since the entry into force of the debt discharge law to date, 7,900 requests have been registered, which means a total exposure of RON 2.2 billion (EUR 500 million), the Financial Stability Report of the National Bank of Romania (BNR) reads.
Thus, the number of new requests increased by 26 percent in 2017, central bank data inform. Most of these requests, 69 percent, are challenged by the commercial banks in Court. The share of Swiss francs loans in total debt discharge payment reached 42 percent.
The BNR report shows that due to the restructuring or conversion measures, the number of Swiss franc loans continued to decline, reaching RON 2.1 billion in September 2017. The number of CHF debtors fell by 8 percent in the first half of the year 2017, to 35,000 people.
25,179 credits were converted into other currencies, RON or EUR, and 13,155 loans were restructured. The rate of CHF loans settlement is 63 percent.
The debt discharge allows for the discharge in full of any loans contracted by an individual and secured by a mortgage arrangement, including any accessories in connection therewith. The law exempts the governmental backed programme ’Prima Casa (First House)’ and loans exceeding EUR 250,000 (RON equivalent).
The European Commission mentioned in several occasions that the implementation of the law on debt discharge represents a major downward risk to macroeconomic developments, the main concerns being the retroactive and wide applicability, as well as the fact that the law applies independently of the financial status of the debtors.