Bankers say that business people have reexamined financial strate- gies, taking into consideration various exchange rate protection techniques, following the rise of the leu above the psychological threshold of the 3.2 lei/euro. Companies can ma- nage cash-flow and contracts better by using forward transactions.
"Lately, the number of clients using various operations to cover the currency risk and the volume of transactions have increased constantly. Moreover, due to the leu's appreciation in the past few months, clients are requesting more information about operations to cover the currency risk," Cornel Cojocaru, Press Office Spokesman of BCR, told Business Standard.
Unicredit Tiriac officials say most transactions are on the leu/euro option, preferred by exporters and importers alike. "In the context of the leu's appreciation, exporters and importers are preoccupied by a possible intervention on the part of the National Bank of Romania [BNR], in the form of euro/leu options transactions. On the one hand, exporters are disadvantaged by the low ex- change rate, while on the other importers are concerned by a sudden depreciation of the leu," Bogdan Mihoc, Head of Treasury of Unicredit Tiriac Bank, told Business Standard.
The handiest instrument used by Romanians is the forward ex- change contract. The client commits to sell/buy a certain amount of foreign currency on a date mutually agreed upon with the bank and at a fixed exchange rate established at the time of transaction.
