Biggest leap of foreign currency reserve in three years: 2.3bn euros

The NBR’s foreign currency reserve in March added a further 2.29bn euros rising to a new all-time high of 32bn euros, thus registering the biggest monthly leap of the past three years. The increase came as result of the disbursement of the second tranche, of 1bn euros, from the EC loan, of the Eurobond issue through which the state raised one billion euros from the international market, as well as of the foreign currency purchases the NBR operated on the interbank market, say dealers. Similar monthly jumps were registered only in August 2007 and October 2006. “The NBR said (it was not comfortable with a too strong RON increase) and is now showing it keeps its pledges. They bought foreign currency from the market on a daily basis, with sums amounting to hundreds of million euros”, a dealer commented. The euro rose back above the 4.1 RON threshold, after in the second half of March the market had vainly tried to drive the exchange rate to below 4.05 RON/EUR. Almost three billion euros entered the central bank’s coffers last month, according to NBR representatives.