Euro Less than 39,000 Lei

Surprise on the currency market: the main euro rate, announced by NBR (the National Bank of Romania), decreased yesterday to 38,976 lei, 432 lei less than the rate at the end of last week. Euro decreased bellow the 39,000 threshold for the first time after October 2003.

CONSEQUENCES. NBR’s Governor, Mugur Isarescu, made the announcement regarding the liberalization of the currency rates and this led to the increase of the national currency rate.

FIGURES

Since the beginning of this year, the Romanian national currency increased by 5.2% in competition with the euro, 4.6% of which in the last month only. The national currency’s increase maintains in the competition with the USD as well, which decreased by 432 units, the rate being 29,381 lei. The American currency is at its minimum in the last three and a half years, and the decrease from the beginning of this year reached 9.86%. The increasing of the national currency appeared after the NBR decided not to intervene anymore in the currency market.

EXPLANATIONS

"Since the announcement regarding the liberalization, no one intervenes in the currency market for to master the rates. It is like at the market: when there is tomato inflation, the price decreases; when there is a tomato crisis because the gardener simply didn’t want to wake up early in the morning to pick them, the price increases", explains Corneliu Cojocaru, the communication director from RCB (the Romanian Commercial Bank). This is how, the decrease in the euro quotations happened because of the high foreign currency offer on the market. An increase of the foreign currency rates depending on the offer on the market is expected to appear in the following days. (Vali Blanaru)

FLUCTUATIONS

The zig-zag evolution of the main currency rates led to losses for the ones who keep their savings in a foreign currency. "The companies should change their currency strategies. The ones having savings in euro lost, and this isn’t such a happy moment for the exporters either. The companies should also take into account the NBR advice and keep their money in national currency bank deposits", Cojocaru also said. In the international market, the USD lost in the battle with the euro. Euro valued 1.3253 USD, after reaching a maximum of the day of 1.3286 USD.