OTP Romania offers relief for CHF debtors

Hungary AM

OTP Bank Romania, the largest Romanian subsidiary of Hungarian OTP, is planning to lower the interest rates for its Swiss franc-based loans in Romania in order to aide clients there in the wake of the unexpected removal of the exchange rate cap of the franc against the euro by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) on Thursday.

"Starting from January 16, 2015, clients will benefit from an up to 1.5% points temporary decrease of the interest rate margin for their CHF loans with variable interest rate, based on the loan history and the applied loan conditions analysis, for a three-months period," OTP Bank Romania said in a statement on Friday. Applications are due until February 27.

"The recent events that led to a record appreciation of the Swiss franc determined us to quickly react and adopt a fast solution for our clients who have contracted loans in this currency," commented Lászlo Diósi, CEO of OTP Bank Romania, adding that the bank will "come up with further solutions, if needed", in view of market developments.