Interests climbing slowly but steadily on interbank market

The interest rates at which banks lend to each other on the monetary market have seen a steady rise since the beginning of June, so it is just a matter of time before clients in turn have to pay more for a loan.

Six-month monetary market indicator Robor – used by many banks in the calculation of the interest on RON-denominated loans granted to companies – has climbed to almost 7.5% a year at present, around half a percentage point above the June level.

In April Robor had fallen to less than 6% a year amid a positive perception of foreign investors, as well as of Romanian players, on the prospects of the Romanian economy. In the meantime, however, markets have become strained again, with the RON under pressure to depreciate, and banks charging increasingly high interests, anticipating that the Finance Ministry will have to borrow again massive amounts from the market to cover its expenses because its revenues will be affected by the constantly worsening economic situation.