Currency again loses ground despite intervention

Currency again loses ground despite intervention

BELGRADE -- The Serbian dinar (RSD) dropped 0.3 percent against the euro (EUR) on Friday, the National Bank Serbia (NBS) has announced.

This happened despite the NBS selling EUR 30 million in the Interbank Foreign Exchange Market (IFEM) on Thursday.

The official exchange rate on Friday stood at RSD 122.6603 for one euro.

The Serbian currency is down 0.7 percent against the eurozone's single currency compared to a month earlier and 6.2 percent against a year earlier.

The indicative dinar-versus-dollar exchange rate is down 0.6 percent standing at RSD 104.0905 for one U.S. dollar.

Placed against the U.S. currency, the dinar is worth 5.1 percent less than a month ago and 18.7 percent less than a year ago.

In 2014, the Serbian currency touched its highest middle exchange rate level on January 1, when one euro could buy RSD 114.6421, and its lowest on December, when the rate stood at RSD 122.6321.

The NBS intervened in the IFEM yesterday, the first time since the beginning of 2015, and last year, it bought and sold a total of EUR 260 million and EUR 1.84 billion, respectively, to prevent excessive daily volatility of the dinar exchange rate.