Interbank rate ROBOR reaches highest level in three years in Romania

The 3-month ROBOR (ROBOR 3M), the interest rate at which banks lend to each other in Romania, reached 1.82% yesterday, the highest level since November 2014, after decreasing twice last week, according to Romania’s National Bank (BNR). In November 2014, the 3-month ROBOR amounted to 1.84%. The rate has increased significantly since the beginning of September. The 3-month ROBOR (ROBOR 3M) more than doubled from 0.9% to 1.82% during this period. The 6-month ROBOR rose to 1.94% yesterday, the highest level since January 6, 2015, when it reached 1.99%. On October 3, BNR lent local banks RON 9.35 billion (over EUR 2 billion) to stop the ROBOR increase after prime minister Mihai Tudose criticized it for not intervening to stop the increase in interest rates. On October 10, BNR lent local banks another RON 4.1 billion (EUR 900 million) via a 7-day repo operation at 1.75% per year. editor@romania-insider.com