Reference interest represents the interest paid by commercial banks to the Central Bank for loans granted in the refinancing process.
The interest rate of the BNR is calculated as the average, weighted by the volume of transactions, between the interest on deposits attracted by the Central Bank and the reverse sales of government securities in the month preceding that for which the announcement is made.
This interest is also called the discount fee due to the fact that, for a longer period, the main form of credit granting by the Central Bank to commercial banks was rescheduling, but in the course of the lending operations of the Issuing Bank they experienced a diversification and a new structure , but it continues to fulfill in the economy “the role of credit spring, linked to its main broadcasting function.
In the market economy there are several interest rates, consistent with the diversity of lending conditions, forming an average interest rate, but all these interest rate values are some distance away from the official rate of the discount. As a result of any change in the discount rate, the average interest rate should vary concertedly.
The evolution of the reference rate also has effects on foreign capital. Its decrease will lead to emigration of foreign capital and even indigenous capital, the need being covered only on the basis of the remaining internal capital. Conversely, when the reference rate and overall interest rate increase, it attracts foreign capital to the country. Thus, they will abate the capital, which will influence the overall level of interest, by lowering them, and their presence will quickly counteract the expected effects in the sense of restricting access to credit.