DARIUS VÂLCOV: "The new product for the resolution of the Swiss franc crisis - at an advanced stage"

The new product that the Ministry of Public Finance is working on together with bankers, for the resolution of the Swiss franc crisis (CHF), is at an advanced form, minister Darius Vâlcov said, without providing explanations.

The official said: "We are working together with the experts in the banking system and with those of the National Bank of Romania on a new product to resolve the issue of loans denominated in Swiss francs. This new product is at a far more advanced stage, in the Ministry of Finance. It has been submitted for approval by the department. The moment it gets approved by the minister, I will make it public".

Sources close to the situation recently told us that this product would concern converting the CHF loans denominated in lei, at the daily exchange rate with the application of a discount and with guarantees from the government.

Our sources told us: "A conversion at the current exchange rate would be applied, with a 15% discount. 50% of the outstanding loan amount will be guaranteed by the state. The question remains whether the banks' shareholders will approve that discount, because it needs to be approved by their General Shareholder Meetings".

It seems that the new solution, if it gets approved, is only aimed at a certain segment of CHF borrowers, depending on the loan amount.

While Marius Dunca, the president of the National Consumer Protection Authority (ANPC), thinks that such a project would represent "a huge help for consumers", as it is a good idea, lawyer Gheorghe Piperea thinks that the initiative is discriminatory.

Minister Vâlcov recently announced that together with banks, he was working on "a new product".

The issue of loans denominated in Swiss francs began in mid January, when the Swiss National Bank lifted the 1.2 peg on the CHF/EUR exchange rate, which it had set in 2011.

Since then, some of the borrowers with loans denominated in Swiss francs have come to the point where they found it impossible to pay their installments. They have resorted to various forms of protest, by picketing the Parliament and the National Bank of Romania. They have also tried to hamper banking activities, by paying off their debts in coins starting off at 1 ban.

The solution that both the NBR and the ANPC see is the individual negotiation with banks, for each individual case.

Polish banks have announced on Wednesday that they want to create special funds to help customers with mortgages denominated in Swiss francs. The solutions presented by Krzysztof Pietraszkiewicz, the head of the Polish banking association, (ZBP), involve the creation of a fund for the restructuring of mortgages for debtors affected by the rise of the franc, as well as a fund for the stabilization to help customers seeking to convert their loans to zlotys.