Banca Naţională a României

At end-March 2005, broad money (M2) amounted to ROL 679,570 billion, up 4.1 percent (3.8 percent in real terms) month on month. In year-on-year comparison, broad money surged 41.1 percent, or 29.9 percent in real terms.

Net foreign assets edged up 3.0 percent to ROL 373,756 billion, due to the 3.4 percent rise under "Convertible currencies", while "Gold" remained unchanged.

Net domestic assets added 5.4 percent to ROL 305,814 billion. Domestic credit moved ahead 5.5 percent to ROL 390,002 billion, while the negative balance under other assets, net, narrowed by 5.6 percent to ROL 84,188 billion.

In March, non-government credit increased 4.0 percent (3.7 percent in real terms) to ROL 432,966 billion, owing to the 1.5 percent pick-up in ROL-denominated loans and the 5.7 percent advance in forex-denominated loans (when expressed in euro, forex loans went up 4.6 percent). In year-on-year comparison, non-government credit leapt by 33.2 percent (22.5 percent in real terms) on account of the 19.3 percent growth in ROL-denominated loans (9.7 percent in real terms) and the 44.3 percent expansion in foreign exchange-denominated loans expressed in ROL (when expressed in euro, forex loans soared 60.2 percent).

Government credit, net, posted a negative balance of ROL 42,964 billion (compared with ROL 46,379 billion in February 2005), as a result of the decrease in the balance of General Account of the Treasury, redemption of ROL-denominated government securities launched on the domestic market and the decline in PHARE funds.

Narrow money (M1) stood 4.2 percent higher to ROL 154,653 billion, due to the 1.7 percent growth in currency outside banks (to ROL 77,859 billion) and the 6.9 percent expansion in demand deposits (to ROL 76,794 billion).

Quasi-money crept up 4.1 percent to ROL 524,917 billion. Household savings added 2.4 percent to ROL 151,051 billion, accounting for 22.2 percent of broad money. In year on year comparison, household savings jumped 41.0 percent, or 29.7 percent in real terms.

Corporate deposits in ROL went up 9.8 percent to ROL 143,635 billion. Time deposits rose by 10.6 percent to ROL 96,609 billion and certificates of deposit grew by 14.6 percent to ROL 30,930 billion, while restricted deposits fell by 2.5 percent to ROL 16,096 billion. Corporate deposits in ROL increased by 82 percent (67.4 percent in real terms) over the same year-ago period.

Residents' deposits in foreign exchange (households included), when expressed in ROL, edged up 1.9 percent in nominal terms to ROL 230,231 billion (EUR 6,252 million when expressed in euro). Household deposits in foreign exchange were up 2.3 percent to ROL 95,463 billion (up 1.2 percent to EUR 2,592 million when expressed in euro).

Corporate deposits in foreign exchange inched up 0.1 percent to ROL 124,525 billion (down 1.0 percent to EUR 3,382 million when expressed in euro). Year over year, residents' forex deposits expressed in EUR increased by 35.8 percent, household deposits in foreign exchange by 15.8 percent and corporate forex deposits by 60.5 percent.

At end-March 2005,non-banks held government securities totalling ROL 49,016 billion (down 11.9 percent month on month), of which foreign exchange-denominated securities were worth EUR 116 million, up 5.1 percent from the previous month.