Romania's central bank injects 1.37bn lei in the bank market

Romania's Central Bank (BNR) placed 1.37 billion lei in the first repo operation since last August, at an average interest rate of 11.69 percent, announced Narcis Noaghea, dealer of top Romanian lender by assets Banca Comerciala Romana (BCR).

Transactions mature on August 18. A number of ten banks participated in the operation. The maximum interest rate banks were willing to pay was 14 percent per year and the minimum rate at which money was placed, 10.25 percent.

"The participant banks were in need of liquidity, given the very high interest rates on the market," explained Noaghea.

BNR last made such an operation on August 23 last year, when it placed 500 million lei with a one-week maturity. Banks were then willing to pay interest rates between 6.50 and 7.50 percent per year.

The central bank posted today a reference exchange rate of 3.5570 lei against the euro, showing a 0.2 percent appreciation of the Romanian currency compared to the previous day.

NewsIn