Foreign currency attractive again

The low interest rates offered by banks for deposits in RON and the increase in the interest on foreign currency deposits, in addition to the rise of the exchange rate over the last few months, has rekindled interest in savings in foreign currency. The population”s foreign currency deposits went up 23.2% (if calculated in euros) between October 2004 and October 2005, while savings in RON went up by just 17.2%. Foreign currency started posting faster annual growth than the RON in September. The population”s deposits in foreign currency (calculated in RON) went up 4.6% in October, after having increased by 3.1% in September. Savings in RON witnessed a cumulated growth of 2%. The growth was also influenced by the depreciation of the RON against the dollar and the euro. However, even if calculated in euros, the foreign currency deposits did better: the total volume in October went up by 2% and by 1.7% in September. ZF