Statutory interest calculator (Romania)

How statutory interest works in Romania

When a money obligation bears interest and the parties did not agree the rate in writing, statutory interest applies (art. 2 and art. 6 OG 13/2011). The ordinance separates two kinds: remunerative interest, owed for the period before the due date, for example during a loan, and penalty interest, owed for late payment (art. 1 alin. (2) and (3)). For a sum of money not paid on time, penalty interest is owed without proof of loss, from the due date until payment, under art. 1.535 alin. (1) Codul civil (the Civil Code).

The rate starts from the NBR reference rate, which is the monetary policy rate (art. 3 alin. (1) OG 13/2011). Remunerative interest equals the reference rate; penalty interest is the reference rate plus 4 percentage points (alin. (2)); between businesses and in relations with contracting authorities, plus 8 percentage points (alin. (2^1), inserted by Law no. 72/2013). In legal relations not arising from the operation of a for-profit undertaking, for example between private individuals or with a consumer, the rate under alin. (1) or (2) is reduced by 20% (alin. (3)).

The calculation itself is simple interest by the day: amount × annual rate × days / 365. Interest runs on the principal only, with no compounding (art. 8 alin. (1)). The law does not say how to count the days; the practice I use, and which the calculator shows as its calculation convention, runs from the day after the due date to the payment day inclusive, dividing by 365 in leap years too. When the rate changes during the period, the period is split into segments and each segment is calculated at its own rate.

Statutory interest rates in force

The NBR reference rate is 6.50% a year from 8 August 2024 (NBR Circular no. 35/2024, Official Gazette no. 776 of 7 August 2024). The NBR's latest monetary policy meeting, on 8 October 2026, kept it unchanged. The rates below follow from it.

The NBR publishes the reference rate in the Official Gazette whenever the monetary policy rate changes (art. 3 alin. (4)). The calculator uses the NBR's historical series from the day OG 13/2011 entered into force, 1 September 2011, so you can also calculate older debts at the rate of each period.

When penalty interest starts to run

The rule is from the due date until payment (art. 1.535 alin. (1) Codul civil). For a debt taken on by a business in the course of its activity, the debtor is automatically in default when the term expires, without notice (art. 1.523 alin. (2) lit. d)). If the debtor is a private individual acting outside a business, in practice a notice of default (punere în întârziere) is needed, that is a written demand served with proof of receipt (art. 1.522), and interest may run only from that moment, unless the debtor is automatically in default.

In contracts for goods or services between businesses, if no payment period was agreed, interest runs after 30 calendar days from receipt of the invoice or, where that date is uncertain, from receipt of the goods or performance of the services (art. 3 alin. (3) Law no. 72/2013). For contracting authorities the statutory payment period is also 30 days (art. 6 alin. (1)) and interest runs from its expiry (art. 8 alin. (2)).

The semester rule in Law no. 72/2013

This is where most online calculators go wrong. Under OG 13/2011 the reference rate changes whenever the NBR changes the monetary policy rate, and the period is split at each change date. Only for claims from contracts for goods or services between businesses or with contracting authorities, with no contractual rate, does art. 4 of Law no. 72/2013 provide that the reference rate in force on the first calendar day of the semester applies for the whole semester.

An example shows the difference: an invoice of 10,000 lei due on 15 June 2024 and paid on 31 December 2024, between two companies, at the reference rate plus 8 points. Split at the change dates of 8 July and 8 August 2024, the interest is 795.68 lei. Under the semester rule, the rate on 1 January and on 1 July 2024 was 7.00%, so 15.00% for the whole period, and the interest is 817.81 lei. The calculator applies the semester rule only when you choose the relation between businesses or with a contracting authority together with penalty interest.

What a creditor can claim on top of the interest

In relations covered by Law no. 72/2013, the creditor can claim, without any further proof, a fixed sum of EUR 40 as minimum compensation, in lei at the exchange rate on the payment day (art. 10), due from the day penalty interest starts to run. That sum comes on top of proven recovery costs, such as the fees of a lawyer or a debt collection agency (art. 9), and of the costs of any enforcement. Clauses that exclude penalty interest, set it below the statutory rate or require a notice of default before it runs are classed as unfair by law and are null and void (art. 14 and 15).

Outside Law no. 72/2013, if statutory interest does not cover the whole loss, the creditor can also claim damages for the difference, but must prove them (art. 1.535 alin. (3) Codul civil).

Limitation period for interest

The right to claim lapses after 3 years (art. 2.517 Codul civil). Interest accrues day by day: each day of interest has its own limitation period of 3 years from the date it fell due (art. 2.526), and the right to interest lapses together with the right to claim the principal (art. 2.503 alin. (1)). If you claim interest in court after a long time, check how much of it can still be claimed; you can work out the deadline with the court deadline calculator.

If a client in Romania is not paying you, calculating the interest is only the start: what matters is how you put the debtor in default, which procedure you choose and what you can prove. I explain the steps on my page about debt recovery in Romania, and for your own situation write to me.