The decline stood at EUR25 billion in nominal terms last year. Compared with the peak of 2008, the transactions on the forex market are about EUR100 billion lower. Analysts do not expect a rebound this year.
“I don’t see any reason why 2015 should be a special year for the forex market. The bulk of transactions comes from companies conducting import and export operations, which, therefore, need to exchange currency,” says analyst Aurelian Dochia.
“There is very little speculative activity. I think the forex market will largely remain at the same level as in 2014.”
The forex market was highly volatile last year, as traded volume fluctuated from EUR37 billion in January to about EUR23 billion in November. November was the low of the last seven years, with a daily traded average of EUR1.1 billion.
Banks traded about EUR1.4 billion on average every day throughout the year, a five-year low. The decline on the traded volume on Romania’s biggest market, especially in the second half of the year, shows the little appetite foreign investors had for leu-denominated assets and is also an effect of the lack of foreign currency liquidity in the banking system.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)