Romanian Leu Ends Weaker vs Euro, Expected to Ease Further

November 6 (SeeNews) - Romania's leu closed weaker versus the euro on Tuesday, dealers said.

The leu follows a clear descending trend reflecting global rating agency Standard & Poor's revision of the outlook on Romania from stable to negative on Monday, one dealer told SeeNews.

The leu hit an intraday high of 3.3600 per euro after opening at 3.3650/80 on Tuesday. Later in the day buyers prevailed and the leu depreciated, to close at 3.3750/80 lei per euro, weaker than Monday's close of 3.3670 lei.

“This sentiment will continue in the next days. The trend is clear - the leu will reach 3.4000 [lei per euro],” the dealer said.

The central bank set its reference exchange rate used for statistical purposes at 3.3671 per euro on Tuesday, compared to 3.3458 per euro on Monday. For the dollar, the reference exchange rate was set at 2.3187 versus Monday’s 2.3149 lei.

Interest rates on overnight leu deposits were at an average of 7.31%/7.83% on Tuesday, versus 7.29%/7.81% on Monday.

Turnover on the interbank leu deposit market rose to 5.253 billion lei on Monday from 1.225 billion lei on Friday. The BNR will issue Tuesday's figures on Wednesday.

Following are Tuesday'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):