Romanian leu falls to 3.7106 against euro to three-year low, on budget deficit widening

Romania's leu slipped to 3.7106 lei against Europe's single currency, according to the Central Bank of Romania (BNR), following high demand for foreign currency in exchange for lei, after a report showed the government's budget deficit widened to 2.4 percent of the GDP, dealers said.

Romania's current-account deficit widened to 13.3 billion euros in October, a record, a fact which underpinned views the leu is being hurt by weak macroeconomic data.

Banks sold 1 euro for 3.6850 lei in today's opening session. The leu then dipped to 3.7240 lei per euro. The national currency stood around 3.77135 in the morning. At 2:05 p.m. the euro was traded for 3.7110-3.7160 lei.

"The market is still dominated by foreign currency heavy buying especially that investors started to look more carefully at Romania's economy," chief dealer with Banca Transilvania, Ioan Birle said.

The exchange rate posted today by the central bank shows a 1.32 percent decrease of the leu against euro, reaching 3.7106, a level last seen on February 5, 2007.

The U.S. dollars dropped too on international markets, from 1.4782 to 1.4914 against euro and stood at 1.4911 at 1:50 p.m. Romanian hour.

The national currency lost 0.47 percent against the U.S. dollar to 2.4904 lei per U.S. dollar. The interbank interest rates for overnight deposits idled around 7.4 and 7.9 percent per year, below the monetary policy interest of 8 percent per year, on higher liquidity on the market.

The Money Channel