Central Bank Governor: Separation Of Bank Assetts Tax From ROBOR Index Is Intended

During an event where the bank presented its inflation forecast report for February, Isarescu said that lawmakers “want to fully separate the tax from the ROBOR index, which has other purposes”.

The tax, instated by Government decree in December 2018, is currently applied in accordance to the value of the ROBOR index – and is nullified if the index drops below 2%.

The governor also said that Finance Ministry officials formed a task force at the National Committee for Macroprudential Supervision (CNSM) to discuss the tax especially to avoid interference from Prime Minister Viorica Dancila’s economic counsellor Darius Valcov, one of the main supporters of the measure.

Isarescu repeatedly criticized the counsellor during the meeting, especially for statements the latter made suggesting that BNR could sell a significant part of its forex reserves to counteract a sharp decline of the national currency at the beginning of the year.

“When he said that about selling the reserve, that we had all of that reserve, that all of the money supply could disappear, was he aware of what he was suggesting? (…) Interest rates could go up to 15-20%, with such a growth suggestion”, Isarescu said.

During Monday’s meeting, BNR announced that it raised its year-end inflation forecast for 2019 to 3% from a previous forecast of 2.9%.

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