The leu opened at 4.4735/4.4750 per euro, similar with Wednesday’s closing at 4.4735/ 4.4755.
At around 10:00 local time (GMT0700), the leu traded at 4.4750/4.4770 against the euro.
“The market is quiet and the trading volumes are lower than Wednesday, with investors expecting Parliament vote on Friday to impeach president Traian Basescu. After the voting, we will see what comes, but we expect a depreciation of the leu. Even if the central bank decides today to cut the monetary key rate in line with market expectation, I don’t believe such a decision will influence the leu trading. The exchange rate is now influenced by the local political turmoil,” a dealer said.
The Romanian Parliament’s standing bureaus decided Wednesday the Parliament will convene Thursday at 10 a.m. to read out the request to impeach President Traian Basescu, submitted by the ruling Social Liberal Union (USL).
The central bank Wednesday set the leu’s reference at 4.4715 to the euro, the weakest rate to date. Against the US dollar, the leu’s indicative weakened to 3.5542 units, from 3.5347 units Tuesday. The leu also declined against the Swiss franc, trading at a 10-month low of 3.7236 units.
In the money market Thursday morning, overnight rates were at 5%-5.5% a year, smilar with a day before.