Increasing rates for ROL deposits

Got ROL and no idea what to do with them? Well, take them to the bank! Particularly because there is good news. The rates for the banking deposits in ROL have started to go up again. Rather shyly, either directly or indirectly through various marketing policies, the major retail banks decided to admit it was kind of rash for them to cut interests on ROL deposits. From that moment on, they have either seen their clients departing or withdrawing the ROL and moving to foreign currency or have gained no new clients at all.

Between a monthly real negative interest (i.e. that was not even covering the inflation) on ROL and a 2%-3% gain derived from the appreciation of the euro in one month, for instance, it was obvious which choice of savings the clients preferred.

Under the circumstances, the bankers started to feel the added pressure of the ROL lending growing at a much faster pace than savings in the domestic currency.

Banks such as BRD-SocGen, Raiffeisen Bank or Banca Transilvania – heavily exposed on the retail market, have adjusted their interest policies and are now offering yields 1% or 2% higher than they did a couple of months back. The interests paid for the one-month deposits are now ranging from 10.5% and 13% a year. The much too abrupt decline in interests – even to real negative levels, was regarded by the central bank as unhealthy and impossible to sustain. What are the National Bank of Romania (NBR) officials saying now?

“The interests on banking deposits had gone down way too much; even though they only increased a little bit and not directly, the decline was stopped and the lower inflation has made interests follow an upward trend in real terms. In other words, as far as the ROL deposits are concerned, if we look at the last two monthly inflation digits and, on the other hand, consider our inflationary forecasts for June, I for one think the interests offered by the Romanian banks now – I mean interests on ROL here, are very attractive again,” NBR Governor Mugur Isarescu said.

oana.nuta@zf.ro