The Romanian central bank said on Tuesday that it had cut its key interest rate by half a percentage point to 7.5 percent. The bank said that it would continue to monitor carefully the internal and international economic situation 'to ensure price stability in the medium term and financial stability.' Last year, the key rate fell from 10.25 percent at the beginning of the year to 8.0 percent on December 31. The economy here, after nearly 10 years of growth, fell into deep recession in 2009. At the end of December, the International Monetary Fund said that it expected the economy to have contracted by 7.0 percent in 2009 instead of by 8.0 percent as it had estimated previously. The IMF estimates that the economy will switch into growth of 1.3 percent this year. 