Romanian leu plummets to record low as reserves shrink
The Romanian leu hit a record low against the euro on Thursday. The euro reached 5.35 lei in the interbank market. The National Bank of Romania's reserves fell by nearly 5 billion EUR in one month. The official rate was 5.2777 lei/euro at 13:00, below the market level. The depreciation is linked to reserve drops and political uncertainty.
Foto: Farah Almazouni / Unsplash
On Thursday, the Romanian leu plunged to its weakest level ever against the euro, trading at 5.35 lei in the interbank market. This depreciation coincided with a significant drop in the National Bank of Romania's (BNR) reserves, which decreased by nearly 5 billion euros over the past month.
At the end of September, BNR's reserves stood at 60.06 billion euros, a notable decline from 64.865 billion euros recorded on August 31. Despite the leu's depreciation, the BNR's official exchange rate was set at 5.2777 lei per euro as of 13:00 on Thursday, a figure that remained below the prevailing market rate.
After 14:45, the interbank euro rate surged to 5.3459 lei. This weaker leu situation means that Romanians will face higher costs for goods and services, particularly as many rents, telecommunications, and streaming service bills are priced in euros.
The leu's depreciation is attributed to the sharp decline in BNR's reserves and ongoing political uncertainty, which continue to affect the currency's stability.
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