Romania’s National Bank board decided yesterday to keep the monetary policy rate unchanged at 1.75% per year.

It also decided to maintain the minimum reserve requirements for foreign currency at 12% and the minimum reserve requirements for the local currency lei at 8%.

The central bank hasn’t changed its monetary policy since May last year.

BNR considers narrowing the corridor around the policy interest rate in the next period to counter the inflationary pressures estimated for 2017, said the BNR governor Mugur Isarescu. This would help avoid negative interest rates on deposits in Romania and would also lead to cheaper loans.

editor@romania-insider.com