Romanian National Bank slashes key rate to historic minimum, lowers Lombard interest

The Romanian Central Bank (BNR) started 2015 by slashing the key interest rate to its lowest level ever – 2.5%. The 0.25% reduction came after the monetary policy meeting on Wednesday, January 7. Most analysts had predicted the move. The BNR also decided to narrow the symmetrical corridor of interest rates on its standing facilities around the policy rate to ±2.25 percentage points from ±2.5 percentage points. Starting January 8, 2015, the interest rate on the Lombard lending facility will go down to an annual 4.75% from 5.25%, while its deposit facility rate will remain at 0.25% per year. The Lombard credit is given by central banks to commercial banks, against pledged items, mostly in the form of securities or life insurance policies. editor@romania-insider.com