Speaking at a monetary seminar, Isarescu said that the US dollar has been gaining ground versus the euro in the recent months, due to escalating uncertainty in Greece and frail economic evolutions in the eurozone. Giving the current external evolution, letting the leu to fall to 5 units against the euro would hurt the Romanian economy.
“Obviously, we are monitoring the euro/US dollar exchange rate,” Isarescu said.
The official exchange rate weakened around 1.6% to a record low of 4.4662 versus the euro in May, following a government collapse early in the month and amid a negative sentiment in the region due to the situation in Greece.
Bank analysts estimate the leu could drop to 5 units per euro in 2012.