Romania’s RON reaches 4-month high vs. EUR

Romania’s currency, RON, rose for the eight day in a row against the European single currency on Monday, the exchange rate falling to 4.6289/EUR, the lowest level since January 15, National Bank of Romania (BNR) data show.

On Friday, the reference exchange rate was RON 4.6348/EUR, a record low since February 5.

The Romanian currency gained 0.7 percent against the European single currency since May 2, after eight market sessions in a row of appreciation.

Experts say the RON’s appreciation is due to interest rate hike decided by the central bank.

On May 7, Romania’s central bank raised the monetary interest rate from 2.25 percent to 2.5 percent, the highest level since February 2015, in line with economists’ expectations, who see the decision as a consequence of upward revision of the inflation forecast.

Following the central bank’s move, Romania’s money market rate (ROBOR), the main indicator that sets the interest rates for RON currency borrowers, reached on Thursday a 3.5-year record of 2.75 percent and maintained this level on Monday.

The Romanian central bank also had five open market operations during the last foive weeks, absorbing more than RON 18 billion (around EUR 4 billion) in the first two operations, RON 7.9 billion on April 30, RON 3 billion on May 7 and RON 10.9 billion on May 14 from the banks through one-week deposit tenders.