The Romanian leu - RON was a star among world currencies in 2006 as it reported the strongest pace of growth against the US dollar this year, according to an International Herald Tribune analysis. The newspaper predicts good days will continue for RON as Romania is about to join the European Union, which will improve foreign investments.
RON grew 20% against the US dollar in 2006, the best parity for six years. One of the reasons is the money delivered to the Romanian state when Erste Bank concluded the acquisition of the Romanian Commercial Bank-BCR.
The newspaper quotes Beat Siegenthaler, a currency market strategist for TD Securities in London, according to whom the RON-USD balance may reach 2.48 RON/dollar by the end of 2007.
Romania expects foreign capital incomes to reach a record 8 billion euro in 2006, comparing to 5.2 billion in 2005. FDI reached 4.9 billion euro in the first nine months of the year, compared to the 3.7 billion reported in the same period in 2005.
