On Monday the EUR fell to a new low of the last 11 years against the USD, while the anti-austerity Syriza party has won the parliamentary elections in Greece, paving the way for a possible confrontation between Greece and international institutions.
The exchange rate for the Swiss franc (CHF) announced on Monday by the central bank of Romania has decreased by 2.1 percent to RON 4.484/franc, and the dollar fell to RON 3.9888 /unit after last Friday when it registered record levels. The EUR was traded on Monday at RON 4.48 lei/unit.
The European currency was trading at USD 1.1203 per unit in London (9:22 GMT), then it fell to USD 1.1098 per unit, recording the lowest level since September 2003, Mediafax reports quoting international news agencies.
The EUR depreciated by 5.9 percent against the USD last month.
Greek borrowing costs rose Monday after the announcement of election results. The 10-year government bond yields rose 23 basis points, i.e. a quarter of a percentage point to 8.733 percent.
Coeur Benoit, Member of the ECB’s executive board, said on Monday that the institution will not agree to a reduction in Greece’s debt and that the European governments must implement reforms to strengthen national budgets.
Moreover, many European officials, including German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, warned before the elections that they would not agree that Greece will not meet its commitment to return the loan of EUR 240 billion borrowed from the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund.
According to Tsipras’s advisers on financial matters, one of the first actions that Tsipras will take as prime minister will be to renegotiate Greece’s debts to the ECB, EU, IMF and other investors, debt currently standing to EUR 312 billion.
EUR depreciation and eurozone uncertainty caused by the elections’ results in Greece caused new decreases of oil prices. The price of Brent oil in March delivery fell 44 cents Monday to USD 48.35 dollars per barrel, while the WTI oil price fell to a minimum of the last six years, to USD 45.02 per barrel.