BUCHAREST - Romania's central bank board unanimously voted to hold the benchmark interest rate at 7.00% at its meeting on April 4, minutes showed on Tuesday.

The bank said it expected inflation to fall at a faster pace over the following months, in line with forecasts, driven by lower commodity prices and a domestic government energy support scheme while still remaining above its 1.5%-3.5% target at end-2024.

(Reporting by Luiza Ilie; Editing by Alan Charlish)