Central bank keeps key rate steady at 6.5 pct per annum

The Board of the National Bank of Romania (BNR) decided on Monday to keep the benchmark interest rate in place at 6.5 pct per annum, the central bank said in a release.Also, the monetary authority decided to keep the lending facility interest rate (Lombard) at 7.50 pct per annum, while maintaining the deposit facility rate at 5.50 pct per annum, and leaving the minimum reserve requirement ratios on both RON- and foreign currency-denominated liabilities of credit institutions unchanged.According to the BNR, the annual inflation rate dropped in January to 4.95% from 5.14% in December 2024, and inched up in February to 5.02%. Compared to the end of 2024, it fell less than anticipated, as the decline in the January and February dynamics in food, tobacco products and fuel prices were largely offset by the faster growth of energy prices and administered prices.The annual adjusted CORE2 inflation rate resumed its downward trend in this interval at a noticeably faster pace, just as anticipated, falling to 5% in February 2025 from 5.6% in December 2024, mainly under the impact of disinflationary base effects on non-food subcomponents and the slowdown in import prices. Moderately opposing influences continued to come from the increase in the prices of certain agri-food commodities, as well as from increased wage costs, at least partially passed on to certain consumer prices, including amid short-term expectations for high inflation rates.The annual inflation rate calculated on the basis of the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP - an inflation indicator for the EU member states) dipped to 5.2% in February 2025 from 5.5% in December 2024. The average annual CPI inflation rate decreased to 5.2% in February 2025 from 5.6% in December 2024, while February's average annual HICP inflation rate also fell to 5.5% from 5.8% in December 2024.The economic activity picked up more than expected in Q4 2024, to 0.8% from 0.1% in the previous quarter. Compared to the year-ago period, the GDP growth slowed to 0.7% in Q4 2024 from 1.2% in the previous quarter. However, annual household consumption growth remained brisk in this period, tempering down just slightly compared to Q3, while gross fixed capital formation shrank significantly from the same period of the previous year.Lending to the private sector continued to advance throughout the first two months of Q1 2025, with the annual growth rate hitting 9.4% in February compared to 8.8% in December 2024, as lending to non-financial corporations sped up, while the pace of household loans almost flatlined, mainly on account of consumption loans. The share of the RON component in the loans granted to the private sector decreased marginally to 69.9% in February 2025 from 70.0% in December 2024.The central bank decided last year to lower the key interest rate twice - in July from 7 pct per annum to 6.75 pct, and in August to 6.5 pct per annum, after having kept it unchanged since January 2023.