This year’s third meeting of the General Board of the National Committee for Macroprudential Oversight (NCMO) was held on 9 October 2025.

During the meeting, Board members examined analyses and adopted measures concerning macroprudential policy and systemic risk, namely: (i) the regular analysis on the recalibration of the countercyclical capital buffer, (ii) the regular analysis on the identification of systemically important institutions, (iii) the results of the regular analysis on the systemic risk buffer, (iv) the analysis on the Romanian banking sector’s exposures to Germany and Norway, considering the ESRB recommendations on the recognition through voluntary reciprocity of the macroprudential policy measures adopted by these countries, and (v) the analysis of the NCMO working group on government credit guarantee programmes.

In addition, the NCMO General Board was informed of: (i) the systemic risks to financial stability identified by NCMO member authorities as per their specific area of competence, (ii) the impact of credit institutions’ funding plans on the flow of credit to the real economy, and (iii) the solvency stress test results for the banking sector.

The NCMO General Board approved NCMO Recommendation No. R/3/2025 on the countercyclical capital buffer. Specifically, the buffer rate is kept at 1 percent, in an environment further marked by uncertainty and geopolitical risks. Eligible borrowers’ access to finance remains unaffected, underpinned by the adequate levels of liquidity and solvency indicators in the Romanian banking sector, which allow the build-up of capital buffers.

Moreover, the NCMO members decided not to apply through voluntary reciprocity the macroprudential policy measures adopted by Germany and Norway, given the low level of the local banking sector’s exposures to these countries.

The NCMO General Board also approved NCMO Recommendation No. R/4/2025 on government credit guarantee programmes. The wide outreach of national guarantee programmes, introduced as of 2020, has led to the emergence of a significant portfolio of guaranteed loans, tapped by firms irrespective of size, year of establishment, geographical area or business sector. However, in order for their multiplier effect potential to materialise across the economy, future programmes need to be better targeted, in terms of not only the borrowers, but also the financed activities. The recommendation is based on three main pillars: (i) developing a general framework to serve as best practices for implementing future credit guarantee programmes, (ii) the need for potential credit guarantee programmes to target areas identified as strategic, and (iii) developing alternative financing instruments to help improve access to finance, in areas that are less serviced by traditional finance.

The NCMO recommendations and decisions were unanimously approved by the NCMO General Board.

The NCMO was established by virtue of Law No. 12/2017 on the macroprudential oversight of the national financial system, thus ensuring that Recommendation of the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) No. 3/2011 on the macroprudential mandate of national authorities was implemented. The NCMO brings together representatives of the National Bank of Romania, the Financial Supervisory Authority and the Government of Romania. The NCMO’s mission is to ensure coordination in the field of macroprudential oversight of the national financial system by setting the macroprudential policy and the appropriate instruments for its implementation.