MOLDOVAN LEU EXCHANGE RATE WILL STAND STILL – CURRENCY DEALERS

The Moldovan leu exchange rate will stand still with a possible slow and almost insignificant weakening against the Euro and the US dollar, said currency dealers to Infotag on Thursday.

“The selling of US$5 million by dealers of the National Bank of Moldova (NBM) on Thursday calmed the market participants down, spectacularly “land” that part of players, who were prepared for the weakening of the national currency exchange rate. With participation of the NBM, the situation with the rate has frozen, it will stand still, even with the possible slight setback down, in order that later to slowly return to the threshold of MDL17:98 : US$1”, said the Infotag interviewee.

According to dealers, nobody needs currency surges, thus the market does not expect any serious exchange movements before the beginning of summer.

“In the middle of the current week, the demand for currency appeared on the market. The exchange offices accumulated many Moldovan lei, importers were conducting large procurements in May to sell it in summer and the volumes of cash foreign currency fell. However, by means of its active position, the regulator dispelled the forecasts of those, who were not excluding agitation after the demand for currency appears, as the Moldovan leu market exchange rate may have been depreciating much faster”, dealers say.

Professional market participants are not forecasting demand for currency, maintaining that the rate will not go very much down and that the target rate for the nearest perspective will stay within MDL17:95 – 17.98 : US$1.

“What happens with the national currency exchange rate in summer depends on many factors, first of all on the regulator’s position on the market, if it will make currency interventions for preventing the Moldovan leu rate to sharply change in periods of peaks of demand for foreign currency”, dealers supposed.

Many of them currently do not see serious factors that would threaten the target rate of the national currency, which will stand under the rate of MDL18.00 : US$1. However, it is not excluded that some players will be establishing rates higher than this psychological threshold, but this is unlikely to form a sustainable foreign exchange rate.

Infotag’s dossier: For May 23, the NBM established the official foreign exchange rates of the Moldovan currency at the following levels: MDL17.9850 : US$1 and MDL20.0864 : Euro1, slightly lowering the national currency rate against the US dollar and the Euro.