Romanian currency closes the year almost unchanged versus the euro, but drops versus the dollar

The Romanian currency leu (RON) closed the year 2014 almost unchanged versus the euro, but dropped versus the American dollar, as the European currency also went down against the dollar. Romania’s National Bank (BNR) announced an official quotation of RON 4.4847 for one euro, on December 30, which is almost equal to that recorded end-December 2013, which was RON 4.4834 per EUR. The RON was relatively stable against the EUR throughout 2014. The exchange rate briefly went up over RON 4.5 per EUR in January and fell below RON 4.4 per EUR in June and July. Then it went up again in the last months of the year. A different story when it comes to the USD/RON exchange rate, as this is calculated indirectly based on the EUR/RON rate and the EUR/USD rate. The RON lost some 11.5% to the dollar this year, as the euro declined steeply against the American currency. The USD was quoted at RON 3.6885 on December 30 2014, compared to RON 3.2551 on December 31 2013, which means that Romanians who invested in financial instruments denominated in dollars gained some 13% this year, while Americans who invested in Romanian instruments denominated in RON lost more than 11% due to the exchange rates. Andrei Chirileasa, andrei@romania-insider.com