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An emergency ordinance (OUG, ed. n.) cannot contribute to cheapening the bank credit in Romania, the OUG is firstly a fiscal document and through a fiscal document one cannot change the level of the loans' interest rates granted by the banks, on Wednesday told AGERPRES, Adrian Vasilescu, a strategy specialist for the National Bank of Romania (BNR), referring to the amendments to OUG 114, specifying that this is a personal viewpoint.
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"I still do not know exactly how this document will look like tomorrow after the gov't sitting. What I can tell you is that I couldn't possibly believe that an OUG may contribute to making a bank credit cheaper in Romania. An OUG is first of all a fiscal document. The gov't rules taxation, the fiscal policy and has the right to tax in this country and obviously it has the right to introduce taxes on banks, by observing the economic laws, of course. Because this is an important thing. But this doesn't mean that through a fiscal document the level of the interest rates of the credits given by the banks can be changed, be they mortgage or consumption or for the population loans," Adrian Vasilescu stressed, adding that it is a personal viewpoint.
"The market has its caprices, it has its rules and it observes the economic laws firstly. The Constitution of Romania says that Romania's economy is a market economy and when the market is ruled by economic laws, it is an illusion to believe that the bank interest rates could be cut through directives," Adrian Vasilescu emphasised.
Vasilescu added that BNR has received an official demand for an opinion, that the institution has sent a substantial document, but this document is not public and can only be made public by the Government of Romania, the document's recipient.
AGERPRES .
