IMF: Romania Ctrl Bank Should Keep Reserve Requirements Unchanged
Romania's central bank should not lower its minimum reserve requirements imposed on commercial lenders in the following period to make sure it has sufficient buffer against potential difficulties in the financial system, an official of the International Monetary Fund said.
“We would advise against a reduction (of the reserve requirements) at this stage. We think that those reserve requirements provide one of the important buffers against any future problem in the financial system,” IMF mission chief to Bucharest, Jeffery Franks told Mediafax by phone.
The central bank has lowered in November its main interest rate by a quarter of a point to a record low of 6% a year, the first cut in a year and a half. However, the bank kept the minimum reserve requirements unchanged at 15% for Romanian-leu denominated liabilities and at 20% for foreign currency liabilities.
Analysts polled by Mediafax estimate the central bank will continue its policy easing in the next months, including by cutting the reserve requirements.
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