Romanian leu gains further vs euro

The currency ended at 4.4450/4450 per euro compared to 4.4690/4740 on Thursday.

The leu opened at 4.4460/4480 and changed hands between 4.4405 and 4.4520 during the trading session, a local dealer told SeeNews.

Romania's finance ministry on Thursday sold 3.4 billion lei in three-year Treasury notes, 11 times its initial offer. Local dealers said the large amount of leu-denominated T-notes sold was the main reason for the local currency's appreciation on Friday as foreign players bought lei to pay for the debt paper acquired a day earlier.

Romania's central bank, BNR, set its reference exchange rate at 4.4451 lei per euro on Friday, the leu's highest value since June 27, compared to 4.4762 lei per euro on Thursday. For the U.S. dollar, BNR set the reference exchange rate at 3.3636 lei versus 3.3788 lei on Thursday.

Turnover on the Romanian interbank leu deposit market climbed to 2.4 billion lei on Thursday from 2.08 billion lei on Wednesday. The central bank will issue Friday’s turnover figure on Monday.

Interest rates on overnight leu deposits jumped to 5.69%/6.19% from 2.68%/3.18% on Thursday.