Opinion poll: 48% of Romanians reduce budget for Christmas compared to 2020

Romanians are preparing for the second year in a row to spend holidays in pandemic conditions: more at home than in trips with lower budgets, according to a survey made by CEC Bank.   A bank press release show that 92% of Romanians say they will spend celebrations at home, with the family and ony; 3.5% have plans of leaving on holiday, while 4.6% plan to go out.   The average income Romanians want to spend on holidays, including Christmas gifts and meals is 1,017 lei, when 29% of respondents say they will spend less than 500 lei and only 4.13% can afford spending more than 3,000 lei. 48% of respondents say they will reduce expenses compared to last year, while only 18% afford spending more than in 2020.   For Christmas meal, 42.5% of Romanians are willing to spend less than 300 lei, 33.8% between 300 and 600 lei and only 23.6% allocate a budget higher than 600 lei. The average budget allocated for gifts is 509 lei, while 65% of respondents want to stay under that platform and only 9.5% plan to spend more than 1,000 lei.   As for the Christmas trees 13% say they would not trim a tree, 56% will use artificial fir trees and 30.5% say they would buy a fir tree with a maximum budget of 150 lei. 64% of respondents pay cash for holiday purchases, while debit and credit cards have a share of over 24%.   According to the survey, Romanians do not usually plan holiday budget in time: most of them have higher expenses from the current monthly salary: most of them support expenses higher than the current salary (42%) ans only 36% save beforehand. 9.5% of Romanians hope they will receive compensations they will use to cover those expenses, while 12.5% use loans or credit cards.   The survey on financial customs for holidays was made online, by Finzoom, upon the request of CEC Bank in November, on a sample of over 1,800 respondents.   CEC Bank is the financial institution with the longest tradition in Romania.   Founded in 1864, CEC Bank has now the largest national network, with over 1,000 branches and territorial units and stock of over 45.1 billion lei at the end of September 2021.