For instance, a monthly installment on a mortgage loan of 170,000 lei (the equivalent of EUR40,000) taken out over 30 years, at the average market interest rate, falls by over RON100 if the indicator to which the cost of the loan is tied is one percent lower than the latest interest rate resetting.
Three-month ROBOR, the average interest rate on three-month interbank deposits, fell by 0.8 percentage points since last autumn, and is currently at 5.4% a year.
Most banks reset loan interest rates at the end of last year, but there are also cases where this is currently taking place because certain banks, such as BRD and RBS, have not yet set a fixed date for resetting the interest rates, which is dependent on the date when each loan was granted.
“Our loans are tied to three-month EURIBOR and ROBOR. The interest rate is reset every three months from the date when the loan was granted,” said BRD representatives.
RBS also reset interest rates depending on the date when the loan was granted, but this occurs once a year, with the cost of loans being tied to 12-month ROBOR. 12-month ROBOR is now down to 6.2% a year from 7% a year at the beginning of 2011.
Loans granted by many banks are tied to six-month ROBOR, which fell by 0.4 percentage points in the past six months.
However, six-month ROBOR is currently at its lowest in a year and a half.
Garanti will reset loan interest rates on February 1 and Banca Romaneasca will reset its interest rates at the end of next month, but it will consider the ROBOR level on February 15.
(English version by Daniela Stoican)