Romania’s three-month ROBOR index, the interbank interest rate used as a reference to calculate variable interests for loans in lei taken out before May 2019, remains above the IRCC value, at 6.40%, starting October, a level at which it stagnated over the course of September and half of August.
In fact, from August 14 until now, the three-month index remained unchanged at 6.40% after reaching 6.41% on August 11, 2023. The six-month ROBOR, used in calculating variable interests for mortgage loans in lei, started October flat, at 6.50%, just like the 12-month ROBOR index which also started October flat, at 6.63%, in line with central, bank data.
The trend of the ROBOR index is impacted by several factors among which the central bank’s monetary policy, the market liquidity, inflation and tax policy.
So far, the pace of decline has been slow, despite record liquidity surpluses, of almost RON25 billion in daily average in the eight months of 2023. The record level touched by this index in 2022 was 8.21% in October 2022, central bank data also show.
The IRCC is computed at the end of each quarter as the arithmetic mean of the daily interest rates determined for the previous quarter and is enforced by banks for the following quarter.
The IRCC, the reference index for household mortgage and consumer loans, was introduced in May 2019 to better reflect the situation on the banking market.