NBR considers rate cut

The Board of the National Bank of Romania is to analyse the latest inflation figures and decide whether a new intervention rate cut is necessary at a meeting on Friday. “Petrol prices are causing some trouble and the exact extent of the complications is hard to assess,” said NBR vice-governor Cristian Popa. The central bank hopes inflation will not exceed 9.5% by the end of December. “October’s inflation will be decisive in telling us how close we are to attaining our target. October and November are both difficult months, especially with the increases in utility prices starting to show due to heating systems having been turned on already,” explained Popa. The situation is made yet more complicated by the expectations on the market of an impending chain reaction in price increases brought on by the continued rise in petrol prices. NBR stopped cutting the intervention rate in late August, when it reached 18.75% after a 2.5 point cut. ZF