Thus, the exchange rate ends the Sept 28-Oct 2 week with a sharp increase, after the Romanian leu began to depreciate aggressively on Thursday evening, reaching the threshold of RON5.4 versus the euro.
The stabilization was likely driven by central bank interventions in the foreign exchange market.
Friday’s sharp depreciation of the Romanian leu breaks its previous record low of RON5.2788 per euro touched on September 23. The Sept 23 rate surpassed the previous all-time low of RON5.2688 per euro set on May 6, 2026, one day after Romania’s Parliament had adopted a no-confidence vote against the then-government led by liberal prime minister Ilie Bolojan, bringing down his cabinet.
So far in 2026, the leu has depreciated by approximately 4.5% against the euro and is down nearly 5% over the past twelve months, according to official central bank data.
On Wednesday (Sept 30), the government led by Siegfried Muresan failed to win a vote of confidence in Parliament, securing only 182 votes in favor—far short of the 233-vote threshold required from the total 464 deputies and senators. He is the second Prime Minister-designate appointed by President Nicusor Dan to fail the parliamentary vote, following Adrian Vestea.
The Ministry of Finance announced today that it will increase borrowing costs for the new Fidelis tranche starting early October, raising the yields offered to individual investors across all tranches issued in both lei and euros compared to the previous edition. Thus, the maximum interest rate rises from 7.5% to 7.75% per year for national currency issuances and from 6.3% to 6.6% per year for those denominated in euros.
At the same time, Ziarul Financiar reported on October 1 on the decline in September of the foreign exchange reserves held by Romania’s central bank, excluding gold, stating that the institution lost nearly EUR5 billion in its effort to maintain exchange rate stability.
On the international front, the massive sell-off of US Treasuries accelerated on Thursday, pushing 10-year bond yields to their highest level since 2002 and once again driving government borrowing costs worldwide to multi-year highs, Financial Times reports.
Yields on 10-year US Treasuries rose by 0.04 percentage points to 5.34%, a level unseen in nearly a quarter of a century, as traders warned that the $32 trillion US government bond market—considered a foundational benchmark for global finance—has entered a “vicious cycle” of sell-offs.
Pressures from the Treasury market spilled over into global markets, with 10-year UK government bond yields rising by 0.08 percentage points to 5.51%, their highest level since 2007. Meanwhile, 30-year UK bond yields crossed the 6% threshold for the first time since 1998.