Moldovan leu lost 1.64% of its value

The Moldovan leu last month depreciated by 1.64% against the US dollar in real terms compared with December 2008. The official average monthly exchange rate of the Moldovan leu against the US dollar decreased from 10.3947 lei per dollar in December 2008 to 10.4530 lei per dollar in January this year, Info-Prim Neo reports, quoting the National Bank of Moldova. According to the central bank, the official exchange rate of the Moldovan leu fell from 10.4002 lei per dollar at the start of January to 10.5229 lei per dollar at the end of the month. The official average monthly exchange rate of the Moldovan leu against the euro was 14.0327 lei per euro in December 2008, but 14.1303 lei per euro in January 2009. At the start of the month, the leu’s exchange rate against the euro was 14.7408 lei per euro, while at the end of the month -13.4883 lei per euro. The official average monthly exchange rate of the leu against the Russian ruble increased from 0.3702 lei per ruble in December last year to 0.3327 lei per ruble in January this year. At the start of January, the exchange rate of the leu against the ruble was 0.3548 lei : 1 ruble, while at the end of the month – 0.2965 lei : 1 ruble. A sum of 194.2 million dollars was traded on the interbank market in January, an increase of 41.7 million dollars from the previous month, when this figure was 152.5 million dollars. The transactions carried out by the National Bank of Moldova on the interbank market in January totaled 88.65 million dollars, up 38.42 million dollars from December.