State-owned Eximbank launched a 6-month deposit PLUS with an interest of 7.75% (some 7% after the 10% income tax) attached, while the Government pays between 6.7% (tax-free) for one-year bonds and 7.7% for three-year bonds denominated in local currency under its latest Tezaur issue scheduled for April-May, Economica.net reported.

The Government reduced significantly the yields paid to households since November, when it paid as much as 9.15% for the two-year maturity and 8.7% for the one-year maturity.

Under these circumstances, some banks are paying higher net interest rates compared to the yield paid by the Government for the one-year maturity: for instance, Unicredit pays 8% interest (7.2% net) for one-year deposits, compared to the 6.7% promised by Government under its latest Tezaur issue.

Summing up, there are viable options for placements around 7% or over, irrespective of the maturity envisaged by individual investors. Such returns are indeed negative in real terms but above the 5%-6% returns projected by CFA vice-president Adrian Codirlasu for the privately-managed pension funds.

iulian@romania-insider.com

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