Unlocked Loans

The National Bank of Romania (BNR) will reduce the minimum compulsory reserves for the foreign currency financing lines of the banks from 40% to 0%, if they are due in more than two years.

The measure will send approximately 8 billion euros in the market. The banks will use this money to loan the economy, but not for areas with problems, such as the real estate loans. The money that will get in the market will also help the national currency, which is expected to increase its value in the following period. BNR has minimum reserves reaching a total worth of over 12 billion euros and it intends to reduce them in an "extremely gradual" manner, as Isarescu recently said.

The Board of Directors of the NBR has decided to maintain monetary policy interest rate at 10%, the minimum compulsory reserves rates for the local and foreign currency passives at 18% and at 40% for the foreign currency, but they excluded the foreign currency passives due in more than two years.

"The BNR Board of Directors analyzed and approved the letter of intention sent to the IMF regarding an external financing arrangement with the international financial institutions and the EU", says the official statement of the bank. NBR will closely monitor the internal and global economic evolutions so that, using the appropriate instruments, it would help achieving the financial and price stability objectives.