Romanian Leu Eases vs Euro, out of Tune with Regional Peers

The leu ended at 4.2350/2400 per euro on Thursday, compared to 4.2250/2280 per euro on Wednesday and 4.2160/2190 per euro on Tuesday.

”There was a cumulus of factors, from one side fears about Romania’s economy that persist although today no important data was presented and from the other side provisions for which banks needed to buy foreign currency,“ a dealer told SeeNews.

The dealer also said he does not expect the leu to ease beyond 4.25 per euro next week, although the Romanian currency is following a downward trend.

The Romanian central bank, BNR, set its reference exchange rate at 4.2310 per euro on Thursday, compared to 4.2246 per euro on Wednesday. For the U.S. dollar, the BNR set the reference exchange rate at 2.9747 versus Wednesday’s 2.9951.

Turnover on the interbank leu deposit market rose to some 3.745 billion lei on Wednesday from 3.458 billion lei on Tuesday. The BNR will issue Thursday’s figures on Friday.

Interest rates on overnight leu deposits fell to 8.52%/9.02% on Thursday from 8.56%/9.06% on Wednesday.