BCR first to up interests

National Bank of Romania can give itself a pat on the back again, even though partly: the message it wanted to convey by the 1% rise in its benchmark interest on the monetary market has reached its intended recipients. The largest bank in Romania, Banca Comerciala Romana (Romanian Commercial Bank – BCR) upped its interests for the one-month and three-month ROL deposits yesterday. The new interests paid will be 14% a year for one month and 15% a year for three months. “This interest raise brings out the growth potential of the business, i.e. of the lending in ROL, at BCR, where the ROL lending is the fastest-growing of all and accounts for the highest share in the total,” said Marian Miclea, head of BCR’s Treasury Department. In general, any bank’s exposure to financing is directly proportional to the total volume of resources attracted from individual and corporate clients. The move of the state-run BCR is the first made after the announcement of the central bank at the end of last week, which said it would pay 1% more for the cash attracted from the money market, i.e. 20.25%. ZF