The Competition Council’s concerns about the evolution of bank interest rates, as they are reflected in the rates paid by consumers and in the way deposits are rewarded, are normal, says the President of the Board of Directors of the Association of Romanian Banks (ARB), Bohdan Neatsu, referring to the ROBOR investigation .
“I would even say that this is welcome and it is a signal that everything is under control and that the authorities are concerned and, together with the banks, are at the service of the population. There should be no doubt about this topic, especially when it affects a large part of the population,” he says.
According to him, the growth of interest rates – both at the level of consumers and at the level of interbank markets is registered not only in Romania, but also throughout the world, in the context of an inflationary wave.
“The money market is a free market where prices – interest rates – are formed on the basis of liquidity (the ratio of supply and demand) and include both current market conditions and the expectations of market players, and we are currently in a marked context of high volatility and multiple uncertainties.” – also noted the representative of ARB.
He continued: “The fact that signals related to price developments helped raise interest rates on deposits from less than 1.5% at the beginning of the year – in the case of household deposits, to 7.5% – the average market level. the level at the end of September is an illustration of how market mechanisms work and shows that banks are competing to cover the need for liquidity at the expense of attracting customer resources.
On Tuesday, the Competition Council launched several inspections in Bucharest at the headquarters of 10 banks involved in the calculation of ROBOR, as part of an investigation in which they suspect an agreement between these banks to set the interest rate at the highest possible level. , sources close to the investigation told HotNews.ro on Tuesday. Later, this information was confirmed by the president of the department, Bohdan Chiritsa.
Source: Hot News RO
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