Dan Suciu: 3-month ROBOR down by almost 1 percentage point from March

The 3-month ROBOR index has fallen by almost one percentage point from March until now and we will probably have an equalization with the Reference Index for Consumer Credit (IRCC), the spokesman for the National Bank of Romania (BNR), Dan Suciu, said on Tuesday.

"We have seen that the 3-month ROBOR, which is the indicator that is most often taken into account, has fallen by almost one percentage point from March to today and we will probably have a 3-month ROBOR equalization with the IRCC index, the new index that was intended to be taken into account for the new loans, although I already said at that time that ROBOR is not the problem in what interests are concerned and we now see this significant approximation of the two indices," Dan Suciu told Digi 24 private television broadcaster.

He specified that the decrease of interest rates cannot be achieved by simply reducing the key interest rate of the BNR.

According to the same source, the measures taken in the last period by the BNR show the concern of the institution to have sufficient liquidity in the system so that the state can access the sources of financing it proposes.

Suciu added that during this period they are discussing the financing resources for the governmental plans, mentioning that, at present, "we do not lack plans, but the capacity to finance these plans because there are no unlimited resources".

Asked what the BNR's opinion is on the increase in pensions in September, Suciu mentioned that the National Bank announced from the beginning that in a context of low, or relatively low, economic growth, such as the one in the beginning of the year, "increasing something by 40 per cent, whatever it is, is a slightly risky figure, and in the new context it is even more difficult."