“I believe that the current exchange rate is a bit high. Economically, I believe that an exchange rate fluctuating between RON 4-4.3 per euro would be much better,” said the Chief Economist of Raiffeisen Bank Romania, Ionut Dumitru. “Regarding the events on the political stage, I believe that things will calm down in the near future. We must not forget about the negotiations with the International Monetary Fund and the fact that President Traian Basescu appointed a Prime Minister rather quickly,” he added.
On the other hand, the National Bank of Romania (BNR) announced it does not target a certain exchange rate level. “The market is stable now, and this is the goal of the National Bank. BNR does not target a specific [exchange] rate,” Advisor to the BNR Governor, Adrian Vasilescu, said.
Last week, President Basescu appointed Lucian Croitoru, Advisor to BNR Governor Mugur Isarescu, as Prime Minister, and Croitoru will now negotiate with parliamentary parties to form a new government and obtain Parliament’s approval.
Croitoru warned that terminating the agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) would be a disaster for Romania, considering that each day of delay would lead to “huge” increases in financing costs. After the fall of the Boc government, the (IMF) announced that a Fund’s mission will come to Bucharest to initiate talks as part of the second review of the financing agreement as soon as a new government is formed.
