So far this year, the central bank has freed up EUR800 million to EUR900 million for the banking system following a four-percentage cut in its forex reserve requirement ratios, in two steps, from 20% at the end of 2013.
The lenders used part of the funds to repay credit lines drawn from their mother banks, while some of the remaining money was used to finance new loans, Isarescu said.
“It’s very difficult, if not impossible, to track every euro that has left the mandatory reserves,” the central bank’s chief told reporters.
The central bank on Tuesday held its key lending rate unchanged at 3.5% for the third consecutive meeting, but lowered the reserve requirements for foreign currency deposits to 16% from 18% previously.
The lower requirements will be applied starting with the July 24-August 23, 2014 period.
Isarescu said the banks could use the additional cash to finance foreign currency-denominated loans, which fell to 58.6% of total loans, from 62.4% in June last year.
“The decline is significant, so we don’t mind [to see an increase in foreign currency lending], as long as the new loans are aimed at debtors who are not exposed to foreign currency risks,” he said.
“This will help us bring the overall private lending into positive territory.”