UPDATE: Romania's National Central Bank decreased its key interest to 6.5% / Ionut Dumitru: the 0.5 percentage points decrease shows concern for the exchange rate

Romania’s National Central Bank board decided on Monday to decrease the key interest rate in the monetary policy by 0.5 percentage points to 6.5% per year, a press release of the institution reads. Moreover, members of the board decided to maintain the interest of the mandatory reserves to 15% for accounts in lei and at 25% for accounts in foreign currency.

In the same time, the Central Bank underlines the improvement of liquidity in the banking system but shows that medium rates for new credits and deposits, even though noted a decrease, are still quite high compared to the monetary policy key interest rate.

Central Bank representatives show that perspectives indicate that there are still uncertainties related to foreign environment evolutions, to capital flows and administered and flexible prices.

The decrease of the key interest rate was anticipated by memebrs of the financial – banking analysts association in Romania. They revealed on Friday that the central bank might take such a decision. This is the third consecutive decrease of the key interest rate.

The key interest rate of the monetary policy reached its lowest level in history. The decrease by 0.5 percentage points of the key interest rate shows concerns for the exchange rate, Ionut Dumitru, Raiffeisen Bank chief economist reads.

He said that analysts might assist at a recovery of the inflation due to the adjustment of the prices and the basic effect – which might determine the central bank to cease decreases.