Romanian Leu Ends Stronger vs Euro after Sinking to One-year Low

November 21 (SeeNews) - The Romanian leu on Wednesday ended stronger after hitting a fresh one year-low against the euro, as some foreign investors returned to emerging markets.

"The leu closed more expensive, at around 3.4500/40, it was normal for it to gain some ground after a downfall like today's one," one dealer told SeeNews. On Tuesday, the leu closed at 3.500/505 per euro.

By 1015 GMT on Wednesday the leu had already sunk to 3.5320/40 against the euro, extending losses in line with other emerging currencies, as the euro continued its advance versus the U.S. dollar, another dealer said. The Romanian currency last traded cheaper at 3.5359 on October 24 last year.

"It's a regional correction in all emerging markets, including Hungary and Poland, where the local currencies depreciated after the U.S. dollar lost ground beyond the 1.48 threshold against the euro," the dealer said. The leu hit a 12-month low on Tuesday when it traded at 3.5030/50 and before that on Friday with a level of 3.4870, pressured by the worsening macroeconomic image of Romania.

Two weeks ago the country's central bank raised its annual inflation forecast for 2007 by 1.8 percentage points to 5.7%, beyond its target band of 3.0%-5.0%, and revised its end-2008 inflation projection to 4.3% from an earlier 3.7%. Consequently, global rating agency Standard & Poor's has revised its outlook on Romania from stable to negative.

Raiffeisen Bank Romania's chief economist Ionut Dumitru has told SeeNews that a healthy level of the Romanian currency would be in the range 3.40-3.50 lei per euro. At these levels the exchange rate would not affect negatively Romania's exports, Dumitru said.

Romania's central bank (BNR) set its reference exchange rate, used for statistical purposes, at 3.5393 per euro on Wednesday, compared to 3.4948 per euro on Tuesday. For the dollar, the reference exchange rate was set at 2.3930 versus Tuesday's 2.3648 lei.

Interest rates on overnight leu deposits fell to an average 4.22%/5.09% on Wednesday from 4.41%/5.28% on Tuesday.

Turnover on the interbank leu deposit market fell to 1.841 billion lei on Tuesday, from 7.307 billion lei on Monday. The BNR will issue Wednesday's figures on Thursday.

Following are Wednesday's average bid and ask quotes of commercial banks on Romania's interbank market. They were calculated at 11 a.m. (0900 GMT) by the BNR, based on data provided by 10 commercial banks (in percent):