Influenced by the crisis in Greece, the Romanian leu is dropping sharply, making authorities in Bucharest all the more nervous. Many financial experts have recently said that the leu, now at 4.46 units per euro, will stay on a downward path. Mugur Isarescu, the National Bank governor himself, dispels pessimistic predictions that the leu might even drop to 5 units per euro.

Attempting to simmer down nationwide unrest, Isarescu says that the future of the leu is not related to the US dollar’s evolution against the euro. He mentioned that between 2007 and 2008, the euro was growing against the dollar, with one unit valued at around 1.5 US dollars, and noted the opposite trend observed today. Here is Mugur Isarescu on the evolution of the leu against the euro and US dollar.

“I think it’s risky to assume that the leu would naturally drop to 5 units per euro, as a result of deterioration in Greece. Don’t you think that we, here at the National Bank, are keeping our eyes on the leu-to-dollar rate? Of course we are. I would say such predictions are inconsistent, to say the least.”

The National Bank governor’s statements were supported by vice-governor Cristian Popa. He said that at the moment, the leu is very close to a balanced exchange rate. Popa assured that the National Bank was ready to intervene to prevent excessive exchange rate volatility. As regards the future of the national currency, the Romanian Forecast Commission predicts an average exchange rate of 4.4 lei per euro this year. Over the past few days, the leu has grown slightly against the euro, as have other currencies in the region, amid optimistic predictions that political leaders would take measures to boost economic growth.