Banca Naţională a României

At end-June 2003, broad money (M2) ran at ROL 388,499 billion, up 2.5 percent in nominal terms (1.6 percent in real terms) month on month.

Net foreign assets advanced by 2.4 percent to ROL 224,354 billion, on the back of the 2.9 percent rise under "Convertible currencies" and the broadly unchanged "Gold" component.

Net domestic assets picked up 2.6 percent to ROL 164,145 billion. Domestic credit went up 3 percent to ROL 246,397 billion, while the negative balance under other assets, net, widened by 3.8 percent to ROL 82,251 billion.

Non-government credit stepped up 3.1 percent in June (a real 18.2 percent climb in the first half of 2003) to ROL 224,470 billion, due to the 7.1 percent increase in loans in ROL and the 0.4 percent growth in loans in foreign exchange (up 1.5 percent when expressed in EUR).

Government credit, net, edged up 1.4 percent to ROL 21,926 billion as a result of: (i) the launch of ROL-denominated government securities; (ii) the expansion in deposits in both domestic and foreign currency of the Ministry of Public Finance held with the National Bank of Romania; and (iii) the rise in financing by the European Community (Phare funds).

Narrow money (M1) moved up 8.4 percent to ROL 92,145 billion on account of the 4.6 percent jump in currency outside banks (to ROL 52,535 billion), and the 13.8 percent pick-up in demand deposits (to ROL 39,610 billion).

Quasi-money crept up 0.8 percent to ROL 296,354 billion. Household savings inched up 0.3 percent to ROL 93,926 billion, accounting for 24.2 percent of broad money versus 24.7 percent at end-May.

Corporate deposits in ROL dropped by 0.8 percent to ROL 49,738 billion. Time deposits dipped by 0.6 percent to ROL 26,619 billion, restricted deposits remained broadly unchanged at ROL 10,677 billion while certificates of deposit fell by 2.1 percent to ROL 12,442 billion.

Forex deposits of residents (including households), when expressed in ROL, expanded by 1.6 percent to ROL 152,691 billion (when expressed in EUR, forex deposits amounted to EUR 4,053 million). Forex deposits of households went up 3 percent to ROL 73,316 billion (when expressed in EUR, deposits of households equivalent to EUR climbed by 4.1 percent, tantamount to EUR 1,999 million). Corporate deposits in foreign exchange rose by 0.4 percent to ROL 68,180 billion (when expressed in EUR, they stepped up 1.7 percent to EUR 1,810 million)

At end-June, non-banks held government securities totalling ROL 43,437 billion (up 7.6 percent month on month), of which foreign-exchange-denominated securities amounted to USD 106.2 million, 60.4 percent higher from May.