Members of the National Bank board, including Governor Mugur
\nIsarescu, were heard by the joint Senate committees for budget-finances and the
\neconomy. The talks took place against the background of recent criticism
\nconcerning the central bank policies. Senator Daniel Zamfir, chair of the
\neconomic committee and a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE),
\na junior partner in the ruling coalition, was particularly vocal in accusing
\nthe National Bank of interfering with the calculation of ROBOR. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Governor Isarescu denied any manipulation of interest rates and of
\nthe exchange rate for the national currency, and assured the committee that the
\nROBOR index does not deviate from the actual market level. He gave details on
\ninter-bank transactions, explaining that some banks have cash surpluses,
\nwhereas others have deficits. Mugur Isarescu also said that at present the
\nROBOR level can only fluctuate within the 1.5 to 3.5% range, which is the only
\nway the National Bank can attract deposits from and give loans to commercial
\nbanks by means of state bonds. Mugur Isarescu:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
This is exclusively the inter-banking market that we are talking
\nabout. This is where banks compete with each other, and in this market banks
\nmay use interest rates that vary within certain limits, but variations go down
\nto one-hundredth of a point. So I can guarantee you that there is no
\nmanipulation, no deviation of ROBOR from the real market value. The market
\nworks very well. And proof that it does is the stability of the exchange rate
\nand of the interest rates.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The central bank chief also explained that the ROBOR index stayed at
\na lower level as long as the inflation rate was low, and that the National Bank
\ndoes not play with the monetary policy. Instead, it is a case of interest
\nrates going up at the same speed as inflation. Asked whether there is any way
\nto calculate ROBOR so that its variation would be smaller, the National Bank
\nofficial said that a task force made up of representatives of the Finance
\nMinistry and of the central bank is looking for such options. But, he added, a
\nmore favourable solution than the current one is hard to find. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
During the talks, Senator Daniel Zamfir also discussed the business
\nmodel of banks in Romania. In his opinion, Romania is the poorest EU member
\ncountry at present, and the National Bank Governor should have worked together
\nwith Parliament, banks and the Government to come up with solutions for the
\ndevelopment of the country. Daniel Zamfir:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The Romanian banking sector has the lowest financial intermediation
\nlevel in the EU, more precisely four times lower. Meanwhile, banks’ profits are
\ndouble the European average.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
National Bank officials explained that low banking intermediation is
\na serious problem, but one which can only be solved by means of structural
\nreform.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
National Bank Governor was heard by Senate over suspicions the central bank has interfered with the calculation of ROBOR.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":48903,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[32630],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-80694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-banking"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n