The central bank bought treasuries from 14 lenders and will sell them back November 19. The commercial banks wanted to borrow RON24.3 billion at the repo, the highest amount on record.
The central bank capped its weekly repo for the sixth consecutive time Monday, but increased the repo ceiling to RON6 billion, from RON4 billion last week.
Fund allocations are made on a pro-rata basis when auctions are capped so that banks may have asked for higher amounts to make sure they cover their needs.
The bank started limiting its repos in early October, in a bid to increase interest rates in the market and help strengthen the leu.
Central bank Mugur Isarescu said recently that controlling the leu’s evolution through limited repos was more efficient than tightening the monetary policy rate.
On the downside, however, the reduced liquidity makes it more difficult for the finance ministry to borrow at low yields. The ministry plans to sell RON800 million of one-year treasury bills later Monday.
In the money market, weekly rates were flat at 5.3%-5.8% a year. (EUR1=RON4.5219)