“I’ve heard opinions about the leu being overvalued. I don’t believe this is the case … There are at least four (large) investment banks that rank the leu very close to fair value levels, based on the evolution in the last five years,” Popa said.
Early June, the Romanian Businessmen Association said the leu was still overvalued, while its continuous appreciation versus the euro has a negative impact on exports and, implicitly, on economic recovery.
“The truth lies with the market and the exchange rate will always be set by the market,” Popa said.
The leu has gained around 3% against the euro in the first four months of 2011. Tuesday, the central bank set a reference rate of 4.1732 per euro, 0.4% weaker on the day.