Romania Spent €1 Billion to Defend Currency in March Global Rout

Romania’s central bank spent an equivalent of more than €1 billion ($1.2 billion) in March to prevent the global market turmoil sparked by the Middle East conflict from weakening its currency, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The Black Sea nation has been relying on a so-called managed-float currency regime, in which the central bank keeps the leu inside an undisclosed range, as a key economic anchor while the country seeks to improve state finances and bring inflation down from nearly 10%.