The leu opened at 4.372/4.374, similar to Wednesday closing levels. It later weakened towards 4.38 units, but on low transferred volumes.
Dealers expect a leu strengthening in the afternoon, after the Finance ministry’s 10-year bond auction, as foreign players were very interested in Romania’s latest paper sales.
International demand for Romania bonds drove yields to historical lows at recent auctions, while leading to an appreciation of the local currency as they bought lei to bid for state paper.
On Wednesday, the Romanian central bank set the leu’s exchange rate at 4.3727, 0.36% weaker on the day.
On the money market Thursday morning, overnight rates were back to normal, at 5.3%-5.8% a year, from 1.2%-1.7% a year in the previous days, at the start on a new period for building mandatory reserves.