Energy prices have significantly overshot Romanian central bank expectations, Governor Mugur Isarescu said on Monday, although he added that the bank's slow approach to interest rate hikes has worked.

Isarescu said rates were now close to levels kept by fellow central and eastern European banks like in Poland and the Czech Republic. The bank's goal was to reach a balance point for monetary policy rates, he said. (Reporting by Luiza Ilie Writing by Jason Hovet)