Banks Either Resume Lending, Or Can Open Coffee Shops

If banks do not resume lending and prefer to compete only for the individuals" deposits, "they will remain very nice concrete and glass museums," said Constantin Nita, Minister for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises, Commerce and Business, yesterday. Banks can finance businesses or start opening coffee shops, he added, explaining it was vital that banks financed the economy. The minister stressed that most of the small- and medium-sized enterprises were having problems with the payment of their dues to the State.

According to him, over 90% of the insolvency cases were initiated by the State. "There are several risks on State revenues, if these companies go bankrupt. If the State kills SME revenues, the State revenues will also decrease," he said. In addition to banks, companies can also use European Union funds to finance their operations, as up to 180 million EUR worth of E.U. financing is available for this year, the minister said. Moreover, the Ministry will ask the Finance Ministry to reschedule penalties for overdue debts or even cancel them. "If banks can support SMEs by rescheduling their loans, the State, too, can help, via ANAF, and ask them to pay just the principal, while offering them penalty rescheduling or even cancellation," Nita said.

The Ministry wants between 6,000 and 8,000 companies to receive guarantees from the SME guarantee funds this year. Also, the plan is to sign all the Y2008 contracts for the projects aimed at increasing competitiveness by 15 April 2009. So far, 170 contracts have been signed for 35 million EUR. Up to 106 million EUR remains to be signed-off.