Central bank raises base rate and interest rates

The Administration Board of the National Bank of Moldova on January 28 decided to increase the base rate on the major short-term monetary policy operations by 1.0 percentage point, from 5.0 to 6.0 percentage points a year, Info-Prim Neo reports, quoting a communique from the bank. The Board also raised the rate of interest on overnight credits by 1.5 percentage points, from 7.5 to 9.0 percentage points a year, and on overnight deposits by 1.0 percentage point, from 2.0 to 3.0 percentage points a year. The base rate on loans granted for more than five years was increased by 1.0 percentage point, from 5.0 to 6.0 percentage points a year. The new rates will come into force after the central bank's decision is published in the Official Gazette. The National Bank also decided to maintain the norm of obligatory reserves consisting of means attracted in Moldovan lei and nonconvertible currency and the norm of obligatory reserves comprising means attracted in freely convertible currency at the level of 8% of the calculation base.