In line with the requirements of the IMF programme, Romania organised the auction for the sale of its remaining public shares in chemical producer Oltchim. The winner of the auction is an owner of a Romanian television channel that committed to pay RON 203m (EUR 45m) for the 54.8% stake – money must be transferred until 1st October. The other participants at the auction were the German chemical group PCC SE and local companies Aisa and Chimcomplex Borzesti. The debts of Oltchim are exceeding EUR 700m.
On 27th September the central bank will hold the monetary policy meeting. We expect that the NBR will keep unchanged the key rate (at 5.25%) and the current levels of the minimum reserve requirement ratios.
Last week was quite successful for the Ministry of Finance in the treasury securities market, as yields accepted at its two auctions were lower compared to previous similar auctions.
In line with other regional currencies the RON lost ground against the EUR last week,  with EUR/RON increasing from around 4.50 towards 4.52 (the highest level since 15th August).
After a high of 1.3169 reached on Monday on the Fed decision to embark on another programme of quantitative easing (with a positive impact on investors’ risk appetite), the EUR/USD fell during the following trading sessions on renewed worries regarding the euro zone debt crisis. The EUR/USD closed the week at 1.2979.
 
Florentina Cozmâncă

Senior Economist