Forex market growth halts at 23.3bn euros in April

After a booming increase, by over 10 billion euros in the October 2006 – March 2007 period, the volume of transactions on the inter-bank forex market finally stabilised in April, when it fell slightly against the level witnessed in March, of 23.27 billion euros. The monthly level, however, is twice higher than in the same period last year, which reflects the increase against autumn 2006, following the shift in the status of the RON, which became a fully convertible currency. In the first three months of this year, trading continued to visibly rise, aided by Romania’s official status as a EU member, which brought the Romanian market to the attention of new investors with a more rigid risk profile. Despite the fact that the margin between the reference rate for euros and the NBR (National Bank of Romania) interest for RON has continued to narrow, short-term speculative capital inflows have continued to increase.