The inflation targeting strategy enabled to continuously reduce the interest rates on bank loans,” National Bank governor Dorin Dragutanu said in a news conference, quoted by Info-Prim Neo. The new loans granted by banks to the national economy and the population in the third quarter of the year rose by 40.2% compared with the corresponding period last year, while the quarterly average interest rate hit a new historical low, of about 14%. “However, the bank margins continue to be higher than those before the crisis, though they have decreased,” said the governor. Dorin Dragutanu stated that the new deposits attracted by banks over July-September increased by 47.3% compared with the same period last year, while the interest rate has stabilized (about 8%). According to the governor, the situation in the banking sector is stable and the recent mission of the International Monetary Fund confirmed this. The number of delinquent loans fell from 13.13% of the total loans at the start of the year to 8.13% in September, or from over 3 billion lei to 2.5 billion lei. The banks have sufficient liquidity to support the launch of viable economic projects.