The month of August in numbers

• August 1st

- The BNR announces that, on July 31, 2023, the foreign exchange reserves at the National Bank of Romania stood at 53,936 million euros, compared to 53,417 million euros on June 30, 2023. The level of the gold reserve remained at 103.6 tons. Under the conditions of international price developments, its value was 5,907 million euros. Romania's international reserves (currency plus gold) on July 31, 2023 were 59,843 million euros, compared to 59,266 million euros on June 30, 2023.

- Euro - at the lowest exchange rate of the month against the leu: 4.9334 RON, according to the BNR.

• August 2

- The exchange rate of the Swiss franc reaches the lowest level of the month against our currency: 5.1248 lei, according to the BNR.

• August 4th

- Euro reaches the maximum exchange rate of the month against the leu: 4.9521 lei, according to BNR figures.

• August 7

- The Board of Directors of the National Bank of Romania decides the following: maintaining the monetary policy interest rate at the level of 7% per year; maintaining the interest rate for the credit facility (Lombard) at 8% per year and the interest rate for the deposit facility at 6% per year;

maintaining the levels of minimum mandatory reserve rates for liabilities in lei and in foreign currency of credit institutions.

- The Ministry of National Defense decides to cancel the procurement procedure started in 2018 for four corvettes intended for the Romanian Naval Forces.

• August 10

- The dollar - at the lowest rate of the month against our currency: 4.4866 lei, according to the BNR.

• August 14

- The BNR announces that, in the period January - June 2023, the current account of the balance of payments recorded a deficit of 9,826 million euros, compared to 11,997 million euros in the period January - June 2022. In its structure, the balance of goods recorded a deficit more small by 1,447 million euros, the balance of services - a larger surplus by 1,696 million euros, the balance of primary incomes - a larger deficit by 847 million euros, and the balance of secondary incomes - a smaller surplus by 125 million euros.

• August 18

- Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu and his Ukrainian counterpart Denys Shmyhin sign, in Bucharest, a political declaration based on which our country will double the storage, transit and export capacity of Ukrainian grains, from 24 million tons to 48 million tons.

• August 21

- The gram of gold, quoted at the minimum level of the month: 275.2425 lei, according to the BNR.

• August 23rd

- The franc reaches the maximum exchange rate of the month against our currency: 5.1871 lei, according to BNR data.

• August 24

- The BNR informs that the monetary mass in the broad sense (M3) recorded, at the end of July 2023, a balance of 622,009.2 million lei. This decreased by 0.4% (-0.6% in real terms) compared to June 2023, and compared to July 2022 it increased by 8% (-1.3% in real terms).

• August 25

- The dollar - at the highest exchange rate of the month against our currency: 4.5768 lei, according to the BNR.

• August 26

- There is an explosion at an LPG station in Crevedia, which has been operating illegally since 2020. The disaster led to the deaths and injuries of some people.

• August 29

- The Ministry of Finance announces that, in the first semester of 2023, the budget deficit reached 2.34% of GDP or 37.21 billion lei, compared to 1.67% of GDP or 23.51 billion lei in the first half of last year.

- The Minister of Defense, Angel Tîlvăr, signs the Letter of Intent between the Ministry of National Defense of Romania, the Ministry of Defense of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Lockheed Martin company regarding the Training Center in our country for pilots who serve F-16 fighter jets.

• August 31

- The gram of gold reaches the maximum price of the month: 284.1094 lei, according to the BNR.

- The BET index, which reflects the dynamics of the 20 most liquid shares of the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB), rose by 0.22% in August, and the BETAeRO, of companies considered representative of the Multilateral Trading System, decreased by 1, 69%

- The BET-BK index, the yield benchmark of investment funds in shares, decreased by 0.85% in August, and the BET-XT, of the 30 most liquid securities of our market, stagnated.

- Nuclearelectrica (SNN) shares had the best evolution in BET, last month, rising by 4.44%, to 47.05 lei.

- Transport Trade Services (TTS) shares appreciated by 4.26%, to 19.6 lei, Electrica (EL) shares - by 3.26%, to 9.5 lei.

- Hidroelectrica (H2O) shares increased by 0.71% in August, to 113 lei.

- Bucharest Stock Exchange securities recorded the strongest decline, of 9.93%, up to 52.6 lei.

- TeraPlast (TRP) shares depreciated by 9.56% last month, to 0.454 lei.

- Sphera Franchise Group (SFG) shares depreciated by 4.37% last month, to 19.7 lei, those of MedLife - by 3.44%, to 18.54 lei.

- Transelectrica shares fell by 3.68%, to 26.2 lei.

- The BET-FI index, of SIFs plus Fondul Proprietatea (FP), rose by 0.16% in August, due to the evolution of FP shares, which appreciated by 1.46%, to 1.946 lei.