The high share of products with prices displayed in euros makes any exchange rate shock reflect instantly in inflation, so that the NBR is forced to keep RON rates up, even though the economy needs cheap funding.
The preference of many companies – from mobile telephony to car
dealers or housing developers, to display prices in euros, as well
as the practice of bankers to sell loans in foreign currency
aggressively have turned the exchange rate into an “obsession” for
most Romanians.
Because of the high “euroisation” of the economy – which means that
consumer prices react to exchange rate shocks instantly, the
National Bank is rendered unable to use its monetary policy now and
support the economy that cannot seem to find its way out of
recession – analysts feel. With prices for the most important goods
– homes and cars, displayed in euros, people have been driven to
borrow in euros, which left them exposed to exchange rate
fluctuations.
NBR cannot feed cash into the economy for fear it might generate a
depreciation of the exchange rate, which will hurt the stability of
the banking system, inclusively. Therefore the NBR has been forced
to constantly keep an eye on the forex market over the years, even
though theoretically the RON is the only circulating currency in
Romania.
Whereas in Hungary mobile phone companies Vodafone and Orange
display call plan prices in forints, in Bucharest the tariffs are
not shown in RON but in euros. The same goes for local carmaker
Dacia, which shows prices in zlotys and forints on its websites in
Poland and Hungary, and in euros in Romania. The list may also
include hotels, travel agencies and airlines, which apply similar
policies, therefore practically defying the existence of a national
currency.
Even the local law is lenient, leaving those involved in trade the
option to display prices in foreign currency, while regulations in
Hungary require prices be displayed in euros. The same goes for
Poland, where they are bound by the law to show prices in
zlotys.