The currency opened at 4.545/4.547 per euro and touched an early low of 4.55 against the euro before turning to modest gains. Market participants believe the central bank stepped in and sold foreign currency to prevent the leu from weakening too much.
In the afternoon, the leu strengthened below 4.54 to the euro, in lackluster trade.
According to market participants, the leu’s evolution was not affected by economic data for the third quarter. The statistics institute said the gross domestic product declined 0.5% in real terms compared with the previous three months.
In the first nine months, the economy expanded at an annualized rate of 0.2% in unadjusted data, pointing to zero full-year growth or even to a recession.
The central bank set the leu’s reference at 4.5379 to the euro, slightly stronger on the day. Against the US dollar, the leu’s indicative gained 0.14% to 3.5552 units.
In the money market, overnight rates were at 5.2%-5.7% a year, from 5.3%-5.8% a year Wednesday.