Romanian Leu Firms vs Euro on Positive IMF Loan Tranche News

The leu ended at 4.2440/2470 per euro, compared to 4.2670/2700 per euro on Monday.

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 IMF announcement brought positive news to the market, one dealer told SeeNews. The other currencies of emerging markets in the region also strengthened on improved global sentiment, he said.

The Romanian central bank, BNR, set its reference exchange rate at 4.2552 per euro on Tuesday, compared to 4.2665 per euro on Monday. For the U.S. dollar, the BNR set the reference exchange rate at 2.8746 versus Monday’s 2.9123.

Turnover on the interbank leu deposit market rose to 4.506 billion lei on Monday from 2.209 billion lei on Friday. The BNR will issue Tuesday’s turnover figures on Wednesday.

Interest rates on overnight leu deposits fell to 6.86%/7.36% on Tuesday from 7.98%/8.48% on Monday.