BUCHAREST, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Board of the National Bank of Romania (BNR) announced Wednesday to raise its benchmark interest rate to 2.25 percent since Thursday, marking the second quarter-point increase since the beginning of the year, in order to contain inflation.

The hike, anticipated by the financial market's analysts, as they consider the inflationary risks are moving "to the upside", may be followed by other uplifts this year until the benchmark rate of BNR would reach the 3 percent level.

The monetary authority also decided to adjust upward the interest rate for the deposit facilities to 1.25 percent per annum and that for lending facilities to 3.25 percent per annum, from 1 percent and 3 percent, respectively.

The bank kept unchanged the current levels of minimum reserve requirement ratios on both leu- and foreign currency-denominated liabilities of credit institutions.

The Romanian National Bank decided on January 8 to hike the key rate for the first time in almost a decade. The bank lowered the benchmark rate over 20 times from 10.25 percent in January 2009 to 1.75 percent in May 2015, and the rate remained unchanged for more than two years until January 8. Enditem