Banca Naţională a României

At end-December 2005, broad money (M2) came in at RON 86,332 million, up 6.1 percent (5.5 percent in real terms) month on month. In year-on-year comparison, broad money increased by 33.9 percent, or 23.3 percent in real terms.

Net foreign assets stayed relatively flat at RON 45,441 million, with "Convertible currencies" edging down 0.6 percent and "Gold" rising 4.2 percent as a result of gold stock revaluation.

Net domestic assets advanced 13.7 percent to RON 40,891 million against the background of the 9.9 percent rise in domestic credit to RON 54,664 million.

In December, non-government credit moved up 1.7 percent (1.2 percent in real terms) to RON 60,673 million. RON-denominated loans rose 6.9 percent (6.4 percent in real terms), while forex-denominated loans fell by 2.3 percent when expressed in RON (2.9 percent when expressed in euro).

At end-December 2005, non-government credit increased year on year by 45.3 percent (33.8 percent in real terms) on the back of the 70.3 percent surge in RON-denominated loans (56.8 percent in real terms) and the 29.1 percent growth of forex-denominated loans expressed in RON (when expressed in euro, forex loans expanded by 39.3 percent).

Government credit, net, posted a negative balance of RON -6,009 million (compared to RON -9,895 million in November 2005), mainly as a result of the decrease in deposits in the General Account of the Treasury.

Narrow money (M1) added 16.2 percent to RON 24,550 million, on account of the 22.1 percent advance in demand deposits (to RON 13,165 million) and the 10 percent expansion of currency outside banks (to RON 11,385 million).

Quasi-money grew by 2.5 percent to RON 61,782 million. Household savings in domestic currency rose by 4.2 percent to RON 16,984 million, accounting for 19.7 percent of broad money. In year-on-year comparison, household savings climbed 24.7 percent, or 14.9 percent in real terms.

Corporate deposits in domestic currency moved ahead 6.5 percent to RON 18,914 million. Time deposits went up 7.4 percent (to RON 14,330 million), restricted deposits advanced by 11 percent (to RON 1,942 million), while certificates of deposits crept down 1.2 percent (to RON 2,642 million). At end-December 2005, corporate deposits in domestic currency increased by 56.4 percent, or 44 percent in real terms, over end-December 2004.

Deposits in foreign exchange of residents (natural and legal entities) shrank by 1.2 percent to RON 25,884 million when expressed in domestic currency and by 1.8 percent to EUR 7,039 million when expressed in euro. In year-on-year comparison, residents' forex deposits expressed in euro leapt by 19 percent, household deposits in foreign exchange by 26.7 percent and corporate deposits in foreign exchange by 13.4 percent.

At end-December 2005, non-banks held government securities totalling RON 3,854 million (up 0.6 percent month on month), of which foreign exchange-denominated securities were worth EUR 182.3 million, down 1.8 percent from the previous month.