The leu closed at 4.57/4.572 per euro, slightly stronger from 4.5715/4.5740 per euro Tuesday.
It opened down at 4.578/4.58 per euro, but further appreciated, with dealers suspecting a covert intervention from the central bank to support the national currency. By mid-day, the leu gained towards 4.565 to the euro, but in the afternoon, it returned to 4.57 to the euro.
The central bank Wednesday set the leu’s reference rate of 4.5641 against the European common currency, barely changed from 4.5642 units a day earlier. Against the US dollar, however, the leu’s indicative lost 0.6% on the day to 3.5503 units.
On the money market, overnight rates were up to 5%-5.5% a year, from 4.8%-5.3% a year in the previous session, after the statistics institute announced Romania’s annual inflation rose to 5.33% in September, the highest rate this year, with consumer prices advancing 1.2% month-on-month.