Romanian Leu Closes Stronger vs Euro, Dealers Suspect C-bank Intervention

The leu ended at 4.2080/2095 per euro on Thursday, compared to 4.2250/2270 on Wednesday. It closed at 4.2440/2470 per euro on Tuesday and 4.2670/2700 per euro on Monday.

The leu started firming on Tuesday following news about the disbursement of the second tranche of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan aimed at supporting the country's crisis-hit economy.

“It was obviously the central bank today,” one dealer told SeeNews, referring to the leu's rise. The dealer expects the leu to strenghten beyond 4.20 per euro in the next days.

The Romanian central bank, BNR, did not comment on its moves.

Late on Monday the IMF said it had approved the disbursement of a 1.85 billion euro ($2.7 billion) loan tranche to the government in Bucharest.

The second tranche of the loan brings the total disbursements under the programme to about 6.57 billion euro. Romania received the first tranche, of about 4.9 billion euro, in May.

BNR set its reference exchange rate at 4.2132 per euro on Thursday, compared to 4.2293 per euro on Wednesday. For the U.S. dollar, the BNR set its reference exchange rate at 2.8524 versus Wednesday’s 2.8617.

Turnover on the interbank leu deposit market fell to 1.847 billion lei on Wednesday from 2.792 billion lei on Tuesday. The BNR will issue Thursday’s turnover figures on Friday.

Interest rates on overnight leu deposits rose to 8.48%/8.98% on Thursday from 4.45%/4.95% on Wednesday.