The leu closed at 4.4050/4.4120 to the euro, stronger than 4.4240/4.4265 to the euro at Friday’s close.
The leu had opened slightly above 4.42 to the euro, and traded in a narrow range by mid-day. Afterwards, the leu set to around 4.41 units, with some dealers saying the evolution was due to euro sale orders launched by foreign investors who bought state treasuries at the Finance Ministry’s auctions. The ministry sold RON2.1 billion debt at Monday’s auctions.
The central bank set the leu’s exchange rate at 4.4223 per euro, from 4.4251 per euro Friday. Against the US dollar, the leu’s reference gained almost 0.3% to 3.3917 units.
On the money market, overnight rates fell slightly to 5.3%-5.8% a year.