Banks Hurry To Deposit Mandatory Reserves

Ana Săbiescu

Banks operating in Romania have become increasingly cautious and convinced that it is better to ensure the liquidities necessary for the minimum mandatory reserves required by the National Bank of Romania (BNR) as soon as each new reserve interval starts, on the 24th of each month. The minimum reserve rate is 40% for forex-denominated liabilities and 18% for RON-denominated liabilities. Dealers working for the treasury departments of commercial banks explained that they had noticed that interbank interest rates tended to increase to 12-13% at the beginning of every new reserve interval, compared to the usual 5-6% in the last days of the interval. Last year, the situation was exactly the opposite: in the last days of a reserve interval, banks used to place substantial demand on the interbank market and bring the interest rate to more than 13%.

The minimum mandatory reserves are RON- and forex-denominated liquidities tht commercial banks are compelled to deposit in accounts opened at the National Bank. The RON-denominated reserves are part of the monetary control mechanisms and contribute to stabilizing the interest rates on the interbank market. The forex-denominated reserves are intended to control the expansion of forex-denominated lending.

If a bank cannot deposit the full amount required for the reserves, the National Bank enforces penalties for the missing portion of the total. If the case occurs again, the National Bank can fine the bank or limit its operations. The penalties enforced by the National Bank for insufficient reserves are 21% for RON and 18% for forex. If the minimum mandatory reserves are fully deposited, the National Bank pays interest of 5.5% for RON, 2.71% for EUR and 1.05% for USD.

The National Bank has recently decided to allow commercial banks to disregard forex-denominated liabilities maturing in more than two years upon calculating the value of the minimum mandatory reserves. The decision is intended to stimulate long-term financing and reduce the banks" distress. It is also part of a broader set of measures designed to stimulate lending. Thus, banks will have several hundreds of millions of euros more to lend and be tempted to change the structure of their own financing in order to give priority to long-term financing. The decision will come into effect as of 24 May.