Isărescu, NBR: We will get more involved in the real economy

Governor Mugur Isărescu believes central banks will get involved increasingly more in the real economy in order to ensure financial stability, as well as the transmission medium for mechanisms of monetary policy, where he gave the example of the increase in interest rates by banks in contrast with the trend of the NBR rate.

“It was very well said that it is not the job of a central bank to go so deep into the real economy. Why do we do it and why will we do it even more strongly in the coming period, including through subsidiaries? (…) There is a very good reason for this. This is not just a slight refocus. This isolation or the separation of a central bank from the real economy will start to fade. We don’t know what a central bank will look like in the next seven years,” Isărescu said in the opening of his speech at a seminar on EU funds, organised at the NBR by Economistul newspaper.
Since the beginning of 2009 the NBR has cut its monetary policy rate by four percent, bringing it to a historic low of 6.25% a year. However, loans in RON for individuals and companies are now close to pre-crisis levels, with banks citing the cost of risk (provisions allocated for non-performing loans), which neutralised the cheapening of financing.