At end-March, broad money (M2) came in at ROL 191,551 billion, up 2.9 percent month-on-month in nominal terms and 0.9 percent in real terms. Solely net foreign assets were accountable for the increase in broad money.
Net foreign assets grew by 5.5 percent to ROL 105,945 billion, owing to the 7.2 percent (USD142 million) advance under "Foreign Exchange" and the slight increase under "Gold". The "Foreign Exchange" component expanded due mainly to the foreign exchange net purchases of the central bank from the forex market and the proceeds from the issuance of foreign-exchange denominated government securities on the domestic market.
Net domestic assets edged 0.2 percent down month-on-month to ROL 85,606 billion, with domestic credit increasing by 1.5 percent to ROL 116,155 billion and the negative balance of other net assets widening by ROL 1,926 billion.
Non-government credit moved 2.9 percent up (in real terms, the change was 0.9 percent over February and 4 percent for the first three months of the year) to reach ROL 84,428 billion, due to the increase in both components: credit in foreign exchange rose by 2.2 percent (or 4.1 percent when expressed in lei) and credit in lei increased by 1.3 percent. Government credit, net, declined by 2.1 percent1) to ROL 31,728 billion, due mainly to the increase in the balance of the Ministry of Public Finance's current account in foreign exchange with the NBR, following the launching of foreign-exchange denominated bonds on the domestic market (worth USD 147 million and DEM 6.7 million).
Narrow money (M1) posted a 1 percent decrease to ROL 39,108 billion as a result of the 0.1 percent pick-up of currency outside banks to ROL 23,774 billion and of the 2.7 percent fall in demand deposits to ROL 15,334 billion.
Quasi-money moved 3.9 percent ahead to ROL 152,443 billion. Household savings edged 3.1 percent up to ROL 48,382 billion (accounting for 25.3 percent of broad money), amid the persistence of households' propensity towards holding ROL-denominated government securities, which expanded 9.2 percent to ROL 11,759 billion. Household forex deposits, expressed in US dollars, fell by 0.3 percent, while household foreign-exchange-denominated government securities (equivalent to USD 134 million) soared by 59.7 percent.
Corporate deposits in lei moved 7.4 percent higher to ROL 20,803 billion, mostly on the back of time deposits of state-owned companies. Residents' forex deposits, expressed in lei, rose by 3.6 percent to ROL 83,259 billion (or by 1.6 percent to USD 3,020 million when expressed in US dollars).
2At end-March, the non-bank sector held ROL-denominated government securities worth ROL 21,008 billion (up 10.6 percent over February). Foreign-exchange-denominated government securities held by the non-bank sector jumped by 74.3 percent month on month to the equivalent of USD 197.4 million. Foreign-exchange-denominated government securities held by non-residents stood at the equivalent of USD 0.7 million, compared with USD 0.4 million at end-February, according to the data reported by the banks which acted on behalf of the government.
1) Data on government credit were revised pursuant to Order no. 466/4 April 2001 issued by Public Finance Ministry, whereby government securities worth lei 3,944 billion were issued retroactively (as of 23 November 2000) in favour of Banca Agricolă.