The regulator’s policy affected only the business environment and the banks’ determination to attract more funds without conceding the terms of the loan and placement.
The average rate on newly issued ley loans even went up, amounting to 9.35%, which, contrary to the regulator’s desire to move to stimulate demand, did not cause the intention of the population to take loans more actively. Although individuals are still the main consumers of borrowed funds (about 70% of the market) and, according to reports, even increased their activity (+4%), the restraining factors did not disappear in July.
The NBM’s signal to switch to incentives was not well received by enterprises, which, however, prefer to borrow in other areas of the financial market. In banks, the average rate for lei loans to legal entities went up (8.72%), while for importers in foreign currency – traditionally down (5.13%). As a result, in the reporting month the volumes decreased by 0.9%, compared to the previous month.
“It would be ridiculous to think that a 0.25 p.p. cut in the prime rate would trigger a corresponding reaction to consume and invest, as many experts thought, welcoming the easing of the NBM’s monetary policy. After all, the central bank emphasized exactly this, as well as the balanced national economy and current account, when making its decision. But this is clearly not enough to solve the whole set of problems! The country’s economy has been stagnating for more than two years. Consumption and investment are declining, and the current account deficit has reached prohibitive values (25.8% of GDP). Serious work is needed to improve the situation,” says economist Volodymyr Golovatyuk.
According to the NBM data, while the population is lending to the economy, bringing money to banks. In July, the volume of new term deposits increased by almost 12%, amounting to about 4 billion lei. More than 70% of them are in national currency, but the share of deposits in foreign currency increased significantly (+18% for the month). Deposits of individuals grew by 18% month-on-month (over 3 billion lei), and by 50% compared to a year earlier.
This is despite the fact that the average rate on lei deposits, compared to the previous month, even decreased by 0.04 p.p., to 5.09%. – to 5.09%. The average rate on deposits attracted in foreign currency decreased by 0.15 p.p. and amounted to 1.21%.
In July 2025, compared to the previous month, deposits of legal entities in the national currency decreased by 15.3%, and in foreign currency increased by 5.6%. The volume of bank deposits plays a nominal role here, amounting to 564.1 million lei in MDL and 175.6 million lei in foreign currency. Compared to July 2024, the volume of deposits of legal entities in national currency decreased by 10.2%, while in foreign currency – by 21.9%.
