The official listing posted on Thursday by the National Bank of Romania (BNR), valid on the days leading to Easter 2018, is 4.6615 RON / Euro, a level that has not been met during the Easter holidays. The exchange rate is only one RON higher than the Easter Day of 2008.
In 2008, on Easter Day ( 27 April 2008) one Euro was RON 3.6055, then climbed to ron 4.2185 on Easter days the following year (19 April 2009). Afterwards, each Easter quote had a slight increase compared to similar periods in the previous years, with the euro always moving above the RON 4 threshold.
Last year, on Easter (16 April 2017), the first quotation was over RON 4.5. Then, in 2017, the euro reached more historic highs, culminating in a quote of RON 4.6551 on November 21, amid political tensions, and remained at more than RON 4.6 due to the deterioration of the trade balance ( import / export).
In 2018, the euro climbed for the first time to over RON 4.66 on January 19, then reached its historic maximum of RON 4.6679 on January 23, after which it grew to RON 4.63-4.66 in February and March.
Exchange houses sell euro by more than RON 4.7 as of January, offering – at purchase – less than RON 4.5 for the European single currency.
The exchange rate is considered as a common “barometer” for the economy as well as for political developments, which is more pronounced when there are imbalances in one sector and the other.
For 2018, the state budget is built on an average exchange rate of 4.55 RON / Euro, even if no economic analyst expects the return of the euro below the level of RON 4.6.