THE NATIONAL Bank of Slovakia (NBS) finally reacted to the Slovak crown's sharp decline on June 11 by buying what dealers estimated was 30-50 million euro worth of the local currency.
The bank intervened to support the crown despite statements made last week by bank governor Marián Jusko, who then expressed satisfaction with the development of the local currency falling from its historically strongest levels against the euro.
After reaching a high of 41.37 crowns to the euro in the first half of April, the crown fell to 44.80 to the euro on June 11, prompting the NBS intervention, which propped exchange rates back to 44.43 SKK/EUR.
"The central bank decided to intervene in favour of the crown, considering such a level as harmful," said František Szulényi, head of the NBS treasury department.
"I am convinced that if the NBS had stayed passive, the crown would have weakened even more," he said.
He added that the NBS expected exchange rates to stabilise at an acceptable level, adding that "the NBS is ready to intervene again in case the crown gets to a level not beneficial for the national economy."
