Mugur Isarescu, Governor of the National Bank of Romania (BNR), said that BNR has the possibility and necessary tools to strengthen the monetary policy, including the raising of interest rates, without a meeting of the Board of Directors, but the current situation does not require such measures.

However, BNR will intervene on the foreign currency market if it considers this to be necessary, without notice or explanations, as was the case in the summer of 2007.

BNR announced a reference exchange rate of RON 3.6221/€ on Friday, which is the highest level in the past 19 months. Some dealers believe BNR intervened on the market to limit the depreciation of the national currency against the euro, since the euro was quoted at RON 3.69/€ when the session opened.

Isarescu said the situation is under control, including inflation. The Romanian economy, though still sound, tends to be overexposed, considering the wide current account deficit, according to BNR's Governor. Analysts estimate the current account deficit at 14 percent of GDP in 2007, up from 10.3 percent in 2006.