UPDATE 1-Romania rate cut decision was unanimous - cbanker

BUCHAREST, March 30 (Reuters) - Romania's central bank decided unanimously to cut interest rates by 50 basis points on Monday, a central banker said on Tuesday, a rarely released detail analysts said likely heralded further easing.

The decision, which the bank called 'prudent' and brought the key rate at a record low of 6.5 percent, was in line with forecasts and aimed to help the ailing economy recover after a painful contraction of 7.1 percent last year.

'It was unanimous,' deputy central bank governor Cristian Popa told reporters on the sidelines of a financial seminar.

The Romanian central bank does not publish minutes of its meetings and rarely comments on the vote breakdown and analysts interpreted Popa's comments as a dovish signal on rates.

'He sends a pretty clear message that it is possible to see another 50 basis points cut in May,' ING Bank's chief economist Nicolaie Alexandru-Chidesciuc said. 'Unanimity means that there is no reason to switch to 25 basis points cuts at this point.'

'We have changed our forecast from 25 basis points to a 50 basis points cut in May because the press release was very dovish ... and this statement was dovish as well.

The leu currency traded at 4.071 per euro at 1004 GMT, slightly weaker than the 4.0650 level recorded before Popa's statement and down 0.3 percent on the day.

The bank has cut 375 basis points in rates in about a year, but Romania still has the highest rates in the European Union.

(Reporting by Marius Zaharia; editing by Sam Cage and Stephen Nisbet) Keywords: ROMANIA CBANK/ ([e-mail] ; [phone]; Reuters Messaging: [e-mail] ) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.