September 23 (SeeNews) - The Romanian leu gained further versus the euro on Wednesday as investors’ interest increased following news about the disbursement of the second tranche of an IMF loan aimed at supporting the country's crisis-hit economy, dealers said.
Late on Monday the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it had approved the payment of a 1.85 billion euro ($2.7 billion) loan tranche to the government in Bucharest.
The leu ended at 4.2250/2270 per euro on Wednesday, compared to 4.2440/2470 per euro on Tuesday and 4.2670/2700 per euro on Monday.
The IMF announcement was perceived as positive by investors and the leu gained ground, unlike most of its regional peers, one dealer told SeeNews. The leu opened at about 4.24 per euro and followed an upward trend during the session, he said.
In late March Romania reached a 20 billion euro financial agreement with the IMF, the European Union, the World Bank and other international organisations. Under the deal, the IMF is to lend Romania 12.95 billion euro, the World Bank will extend a loan of 1.0 billion to 1.5 billion euro and the rest will come from other international organisations, including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
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.
The Romanian central bank, BNR, set its reference exchange rate at 4.2293 per euro, compared to 4.2552 per euro on Tuesday. For the U.S. dollar, the BNR set the reference exchange rate at 2.8617 versus Tuesday’s 2.8746.
Turnover on the interbank leu deposit market fell to 2.792 billion lei on Tuesday from 4.506 billion lei on Monday. The BNR will issue Wednesday’s turnover figures on Thursday.
Interest rates on overnight leu deposits fell to 4.45%/4.95% on Wednesday from 6.86%/7.36% on Tuesday.