Speaking at a news briefing, Isarescu said the inflation rate is estimated to climb to 5%-6% in the first part of the year, from 4.95% in December.
More details will be available at the presentation of the quarterly inflation report Thursday, the central bank’s chief said.
Romanian consumer prices rose 0.6% on the month in December, while the annual inflation accelerated to 4.95% from 4.56% a month earlier, outside the bank’s 2%-4% range. The rate was slightly below official forecasts of 5.1% at the end of December.
“However, the average annual inflation rate fell to a 23-year low of 3.33%, while the annual adjusted CORE2 inflation, which excludes tobacco, alcohol and administered and volatile prices, remained at 3.3% for the third consecutive month,” the central bank said after a monetary policy meeting.
The bank left its key rate unchanged at a historic low of 5.25% for a seventh straight time Tuesday, in line with expectations. The minimum reserve requirements were also kept stable at 15% for Romanian leu-denominated liabilities and at 20% for foreign currency liabilities.
Today’s decisions were aimed to “ensure the resumption and the subsequent consolidation of disinflation, thus creating the necessary prerequisites for a gradual recovery of the Romanian private lending and sustainable economic growth,” the central bank said.