The governor of the National Bank of Moldova (NBM) Dorin Dragutanu said the leu has depreciated owing to the massive import of energy resources for which they pay in foreign currency. The supply of foreign currency in cash on the market decreased compared with the previous period, when it fully met the demand of importing companies. In January, only 86% of the demand was satisfied. The developments on the international financial markets are another reason for the depreciation of the leu, IPN reports.
“Moldova, being a country with a small and open economy, can be influenced, given especially the share of exports and remittances in the GDP. Since the start of this year, the Russian ruble has depreciated by 6.1%, the Ukrainian hrivna by 7.7%, the Turkish lira by 4.7%. The leu was consequently influenced,” Dorin Dragutanu told a news conference.
He assured that the NBM keeps the developments on the currency market under control and, even if the foreign exchange reserves of the central bank reached a record level of US$2.8 billion, there are no reasons for intervening as the depreciation of the national currency is a temporary phenomenon.
“It’s no use wasting the foreign exchange reserves as spring is coming and large amounts in foreign currency will no longer be needed for purchasing energy resources. The supply and demand on the currency market will balance out and the leu will recover. Surely something extraordinary may happen, but we cannot anticipate such things,” stated Dorin Dragutanu.
For February 7, the central bank set an exchange rate of 18.23 lei per euro and of 13.48 lei per U.S. dollar.
