May 18 (SeeNews) - The Romanian leu on Thursday weakened the most against the euro since October 2012, but analysts think that the central bank BNR is ready to step in to prevent a further fall.
"We doubt there is a lot of room to the upside, as the market might run into some concealed offers from the central bank," ING Bank analysts said in a daily note on Thursday.
ING said Thursday’s session could see the EUR/RON possibly consolidating around the 4.56 handle, but BNR set its reference exchange rate at 4.5729 lei per euro on Thursday, 0.42% weaker compared to 4.5650 lei per euro on Wednesday. This is the lowest exchange rate for the Romanian currency since October 24, 2012, when it reached 4.5754 lei per euro.
The move was in line with the regional trend, though the increased turnover does suggest a possible flow-related buying interest, ING analysts noted.
On Thursday, the leu changed hands between 4.5656 and 4.5772 against the single currency, according to real-time interbank forex trading data published by local portal Conso.ro.
(1 euro=4.5654 lei)