The monetary rate of interest, new historical minimum

The management council of BNR has decided Thursday to reduce with 0,25 percent the rate of interest level of monetary politics, from 5,5 percent to 5,25 percent per year, new historical minimum, in the same line with the analysts’ expectancies and to maintain the level for the compulsory minimal resources constituted by banks.

BNR has reduced the monetary politics of rate of interest with 0,75 percent since the beginning of this year –after cuts each of 0,25 percent –and within the meetings of the management Council from January and February.

The key rate of interest is now at the historic minimum of 5, 25 percent.

“The Management Council of BNR reaffirms that the central bank will further monitor the internal evolutions and those of the international economic medium, so that, by appropriate adjusting of the instruments that it disposes, to assure the accomplish of prices stability for a long time and of the financial stability”, it is shown within the notification sent by the central bank.

BNR has decided to maintain the compulsory minimum resources constituted by the credit institutions, at 15 percent in the case of the passives in lei and at 20 percent for the passives in currency.

The bank financial analysts have most of them anticipated that BNR will reduce Thursday the rate of interest of monetary politics with 0,25 percent, to 5,25 percent, as consequence to inflation decrease and of the persistence of aggregate demand deficiency.

Also, almost 80 percent of the analysts have anticipated that the central bank will not modify the rates for the compulsory minimum resources.

For the end of this year, the Financial Analyst-Banking Association in Romania members’ estimation who responded at the periodic survey places the rate interest of monetary politics at 5 percent (the estimations vary between 5 percent and 5,25 percent).

At the end of the year 2013, the rate of monetary politics could place at 5 percent (the estimations vary between 4 percent and 5,75 percent).

The BNR rate of interest reducing of the monetary politics should mean also a decrease of the rates of interest requested by the commercial banks.

Translated by Alexandra-Diana Mircea
MTTLC, Bucharest Univesity