The Romanian antitrust regulator is considering starting an investigation into local banks if it finds irregularities regarding the rise in the interbank interest rate ROBOR, the head of the institution told News.ro.
The ROBOR index, which is used to set the interest rates for the loans taken out by most Romanians, has been increasing lately. In order to cover the unexpected liquidity on the money market, the central bank injected RON9.4bn (€2.1bn) through a repo operation earlier this month.
“For a long period of time, the rate were very low. If we get hints regarding agreements between banks, we take into consideration a possible investigation,” Bogdan Chiritoiu told the news portal.
The antitrust regulator is already carrying out an investigation on the local banking system, as it wants to find out why fees are higher in Romania than in other countries. The investigation will be completed in June 2018.
“We are already carrying out an investigation related to banks, which will be ready next year. We want to see why banking services in Romania are more expensive than in other countries. It is important for the economy and for those with loans, including me,” Chiritoiu said.
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