Suspended president Basescu: Romania's Central Bank does not have the funds needed to support the leu

Romania's suspended president Traian Basescu has claimed that the country's currency will not recover following the referendum and that the Central Bank does not have the necessary resources to prop up the leu. Speaking yesterday ( July 24 ) on TV, Basescu said, “Even the National Bank of Romania doesn’t have the huge resources needed to intervene in the market and keep the leu at an acceptable level, because they’re drawing close to a floor below which the bank’s reserves can’t drop.”

This came as the local currency has been hitting low after low in recent weeks, to exceeding the RON 4.6 for EUR 1 threshold. Some commentators suggested the Central Bank has not been interfering in the market that much to further enhance the idea of the political bickering affecting the local currency. Basescu also spoke of failing investor confidence due to the current political crisis in Romania. The suspended president vowed to help Romania's currency recover, if the referendum on his impeachment goes in his favor and he returns to office. PM Victor Ponta recently claimed that the economy would settle and the leu strengthen following the July 29 referendum. Prime Minister Victor Ponta recently said he believed the leu will recover after the referendum for impeaching the president on July 29. editor@romania-insider.com