Business Forum • 8 August, 2025 at 6:45 PM
The Board of the National Bank of Romania (BNR) decided on Friday to maintain the monetary policy interest rate at 6.50% per year.
The BNR's Board also resolved to keep the lending facility (Lombard) interest rate at 7.50% per year and the deposit facility interest rate at 5.50% per year, while also preserving the current levels of minimum reserve requirements for credit institutions' RON and foreign currency liabilities.
Last year, the central bank lowered the key interest rate on two occasions: in July, from 7% per year to 6.75% per year, and in August, to 6.5% per year.
Recent statistical data reconfirms the stagnation of economic activity in Q1 2025, following a 0.5% growth in the previous three months. The data also shows a decline in the annual dynamic to 0.3%, down from 0.5% in Q4 2024.
According to the BNR's forecast, the annual inflation rate will experience a significant increase in Q3 2025. This is due to the temporary expiry of the electricity price capping scheme and the rise in VAT and excise duties starting August 1. In the following three quarters, inflation will decrease relatively slowly and along a considerably more fluctuating trajectory than the previous projection.
For the entirety of Q2 2025, the annual inflation rate increased more than anticipated, from the 4.86% level reached in March, influenced by rising food prices. The annual inflation rate, calculated based on the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), a key inflation indicator for EU member states, rose in June 2025 to 5.8%, up from 5.1% in March 2025.
In May of this year, the central bank revised its inflation forecast for the end of 2025 upwards, from a previous 3.8% to 4.6%.