Foreign currency reserve climbs to 25.5bn euros

The NBR announced a fresh increase in its foreign currency reserves, by 245 million euros in January, after an extremely turbulent month for the RON. The reserves climbed to a record 25.5 billion euros in a month during which the abrupt depreciation of the RON catapulted quotes to over 3.8 RON/EUR. Some players spoke of interventions from the central bank in support of the RON, however this has not been reflected in the development of the foreign currency reserves, which registered a slight decline in December. January brought a significant increase in the volume of foreign currency inflows and outflows from the reserve managed by the NBR compared with the previous months. The increase by 245 million euros in January came amid 1.03 billion euros in inflows, the source of which, according to the central bank, are the modification of the minimum foreign currency reserve requirements created by commercial banks, and revenues from managing the international reserve.