From the beginning of the year the Moldovan leu has dropped against the US dollar by roughly 17%, but National Bank Governor Dorin Dragutanu says “there is no reason to panic”.

“True, the leu has depreciated slightly and this is mainly due to the difficult circumstances in the region. But there were many other similar experiences in the past that our national currency has lived through”, Dragutanu told a news conference on Monday.

“Moldova's economy is an open one and is thus affected by the tensions existing in the region. There has been a drop in the foreign demand for Moldovan goods, related to the military conflict in Ukraine. But the depreciation has a certain limit after which things will get back into balance”, assured the Governor.

Dorin Dragutanu added that the central bank was closely watching the leu's exchange rates and last week injected some amounts of foreign currency into the market to contain the drop. However, he said an artificial maintenance of the leu wasn't beneficial for the economy which could lose its potential to absorb external shocks in the future.

For December 16, the National Bank posted a rate of 15.4383 lei for one US dollar and of 19.1859 lei for one euro.