The local currency kept losing ground on May 9 despite reported interventions by the central bank.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The interest rates rose, and the Stock Exchange\u2019s indices resumed the decline on May 9 after a modest gain on the previous day.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The development suggests a drain on liquidity from the money market, possibly amid hybrid interventions by the National Bank of Romania (BNR) to support the local currency exchange rate.<\/p>\n
# Yields of Romanian 10-year Govt. Bonds are up 1pp over the past two weeks, to 8.55%\/8.32%
\n# The average interest rate on interbank transactions rose to 6.21% on May 7, up from around 5.6% a week ago
\n# Local currency weakened by 2.9% versus the euro since before the first round of the presidential elections
\n# Bucharest Stock Exchange\u2019s BET index plunged by 4.85% w\/w on May 8, after a 1.79% d\/d \u00a0decline<\/p>\n
After it failed to sell 4-year bonds this week, the Romanian Treasury managed to place RON 500 million (EUR 100 million) of 8-month treasury bills on May 8 at an average yield of 8.21% (maximum accepted yield 8.32%).<\/p>\n