Romanian leu gains ground vs euro

The local currency closed at 4.5090/5110 per euro compared to 4.5150/4.5180 on Monday.

The leu opened at 4.5150 per euro and firmed to an intraday high of 4.5080, a local dealer told SeeNews.

"Today is the last day of payments to the budget, which led to more euro-selling orders," he said. Companies operating in Romania have to make various payments to the state by the 25th of each month.

"We reiterate our forecast of more depreciation pressures on the Romanian leu over the medium term, given bleak current account financing and low foreign inflows," Raiffeisen Research said in its weekly Focus FX.

Romania's central bank, BNR, set its reference exchange rate at 4.5144 lei per euro on Tuesday, compared to 4.5176 lei on Monday. For the U.S. dollar, BNR set the reference exchange rate at 3.4999 lei versus 3.4977 lei on Monday.

Turnover on the Romanian interbank leu deposit market rose to 1.7 billion lei on Monday from 1.1 billion lei on Friday. The central bank will issue Tuesday's turnover figure on Wednesday.

Interest rates on overnight leu deposits fell to 4.72%/5.22% on Tuesday from 4.79%/5.29% on Monday.