Romania's central bank keeps monetary policy rate unchanged, expects lower inflation

Romania’s National Bank (BNR) Board of Directors decided on Tuesday, November 6, to keep the monetary policy rate unchanged at 2.5% per year. The central bank also kept the existing levels of minimum reserve requirement ratios on both RON- and foreign currency-denominated liabilities of credit institutions. BNR hasn’t changed the monetary policy rate since May, after three increases at the beginning of this year, from 1.75% to 2.5%, aimed at curbing down the inflation rate. In September, the annual inflation rate went down slightly to 5.03%, from 5.06% in August. BNR governor Mugur Isarescu said on Tuesday that he expects the inflation rate to go down towards 3.5%, which is the upper limit of the inflation interval targeted by the central bank, local Mediafax reported. The October data, which will be released next week, should already show a significant drop, according to Isarescu. editor@romania-insider.com