The Central Bank intervened on the market to support the leu, but only in the first part of the day, say financial observers. This is the highest interbank rate for the euro since mid December last year, when the euro was traded at 4.4778 lei. As for what caused this depreciation of the national currency, some experts say the currency purchase orders came especially from foreign players, who sold their bonds in lei issued by the Finance Ministry, coupled with the commercial demand from a number of companies fearing the exchange rate will continue to rise.

Others say the depreciation of the leu may also be the result of euro purchase orders placed by banks on behalf of companies that previously waited for a lower trade exchange. On the other hand, the experts quoted by the BURSA financial publication blame multiple causes. They don’t believe we can speak of a speculative attack on the national currency as was the case in 2008. This publication writes that the recent depreciation of the leu reflects the developments on the regional markets, suggesting the latter are closely linked to the investors’ appetite at global level for relatively high risk assets. At the same time, the leu has also depreciated against the pound sterling, the Swiss franc and the American dollar. The reference rate went up on Thursday when the dollar was traded at 3.4159.

However, the Romanian subsidiary of an international financial group recently noted that the leu has been in a better position this year than other European currencies against the dollar. A Noble Securities analysis believes the main pillars that have supported the leu was the performance of the Romanian economy in the first quarter of the year, which saw a 0.5% growth rate, as well a recommendation of the European Commission towards lifting the excessive deficit procedure for Romania.