Ömer TetikCEO of Banca Transilvania, gave the following statements at the Profit Financial.forum conference, organized by Profit, on the effects of the current macroeconomic context and underlined the importance of government programs for the business environment and the essential role of a profitable and well capitalized banking sector in supporting the economy:

• The current macroeconomic context is not only affecting certain sectors of the economy, but the impact is expected to spread throughout the economy. So far we do not see a direct impact, more the side effect.
  
  
• Consumption is down, probably some of the people who either because of tax changes have less money or there are some changes in their contracts, on the other hand others are more worried or concerned, they are taking action, so consumption is down compared to last years.
  
  
• In the area of non-performing loan growth we were not seeing the impact now. I think most of us, not just banks, have learned the lessons of 2007, 2008, 2009. So, for the moment, the main impact is on the fall in consumption, but in the immediate period to come, there should be some adaptation. Of course, Black Friday and Christmas are coming.
  
  
• Credit demand is there, it is not very high, but more in the area of key sectors, from agriculture, energy, infrastructure. And this will hopefully have a positive impact in other segments of the economy.

• We were waiting with great interest for government programs because the absence of programs like IMM Invest was felt. These programs, even if not all SMEs have benefited, they still encourage, they make plans, even if they don't fit into the program, then they try to implement the plans with their own sources or with bank financing. I mean they bring confidence.
  
  
• The impact of the bank tax this year is over 400 million lei. For next year we estimate it to be over 650 million. That is almost doubling the corporate tax. So we hope this measure is temporary because banks need to be profitable.
  
  
• For a growing economy we need well capitalized, profitable banks and investors who are encouraged to invest in banks.