Central bank governor Mugur Isarescu said Thursday the target was established together with International Monetary Fund representatives. "It’s a realistic and attainable inflation target, in an economic context with a lot of uncertainties," Isarescu said.
The annual inflation rate was 6.3% at the end of 2008, down compared to 6.57% in December 2007, but 1.5 percentage points above the upper limit of the variation band. Last year, the central bank’s target interval was at 2.8-4.8%, while the target for 2007 was at 3%-5%.
Romania agreed end-March with the IMF, the European Union and other international institutions a EUR19.95 billion financial package, supported by a EUR12.95 billion IMF loan under a two-year standby arrangement.
Under the agreement, Romania has to meet inflation performance criteria, among others. Thus, at the end of 2009, the inflation rate has to be at 4.5%, and it has to fall to 2.5% by the end of 2010.