Hungary’s OTP Bank expects its consolidated stock of loans to start growing in 2012, adjusted for foreign exchange rate changes, and it sees the deterioration of the lending portfolio slowing, deputy-CEO László Bencsik said at a press conference on Friday, after the bank published its Q4 report.

Double-digit growth is expected among consumer loans in Russia and Ukraine, and the bank projects a significant rise in layouts of corporate loans in Hungary, Bencsik said. 


Operating costs are expected to rise about a nominal 5% at group level, similar to previous years, mainly because of the pickup in consumer lending in Russian and Ukraine, he added.


OTP Bank’s gross consolidated stock of client loans, adjusted for foreign exchange rate changes, edged down 2% to HUF 8,108.6 billion in the twelve months to the end of last December, the lender’s report shows.


Bencsik said OTP Bank had net liquidity reserves of €4.211 billion in February 2012. The liquidity reserves were up from €3.829 billion in 2010.