EUR/RON exchange rate reaches maximum level this year

Romania’s National Bank BNR announced a reference exchange rate of RON 4.5240/EUR on Wednesday, up 0.45% compared to the level in the previous session, this being a new maximum level for the European currency since December 31, 2016. In the afternoon trading, after BNR announced the official exchange rate for February 1, the EUR went over RON 4.55. Then, the exchange rate went down to RON 4.54/EUR, according to Bloomberg data. The increase was also accompanied by four times higher transactions on the inter-bank foreign exchange market compared to a regular day, which may signal that some foreign investors may have decided to sell Romanian state bonds. The yields on Romanian bonds also went up, according to Reuters. The increase comes in a difficult political context in Romania, as the Government has adopted two justice bills that change the Criminal Code and introduce prisoner pardoning, which worry some of the investors, politicians, and justice institutions. For example, AmCham Romania has expressed in a statement its “deep disappointment regarding the reasoning, adopting procedure, provisions, and effects” of the new justice bills adopted by the Government. Meanwhile, when it comes to the US Dollar, BNR announced an exchange rate of RON 4.1935, down 0.33% over the previous level. EC: We are following the latest developments in Romania with great concern Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com