CEE Exchange Rates Report for October 27th - 31st

By: Margaret Gachau, The Quinnipiac University Global Economics Research Team

CEE Currencies Index 

Source: Eurostat and own calculations. Exchange rates are inverted to be USD per local currency (i.e., an increase indicates a stronger domestic currency) and then indexed to be 100 at the start of the period.

During the week of October 27, 2025 – October 31, 2025, the CEE currencies exhibited notable volatility against the U.S. dollar, with all four fluctuating between negative and positive percentage changes. They all registered an overall negative percentage change early in the week through October 29, followed by sharp appreciations and varying declines towards the end. The Polish zloty (blue) was the most volatile, starting as the weakest performer but maintaining a steady upward trend to close the week strongest with a gain of approximately 0.8%. The Czech koruna (orange) followed a similar pattern, recovering from early-week lows to peak near 0.75% around October 30, before declining slightly to end the week at near 0.5%. The Romanian leu (purple) displayed relative better performance early in the week with the shallowest initial decline, later rising to around 0.6% before settling finishing as the second-strongest currency. The Hungarian forint (green) experienced the deepest early week decline, below -0.5% but recovered through the week briefly touching 0.4% ultimately closing the week as the weakest performer of the four.

CEE Currencies Historical Trends 

Source: Eurostat and own calculations. Exchange rates are inverted to be USD per local currency (i.e., an increase indicates a stronger domestic currency. The center line is a rolling three-month average. The upper and lower boundaries are the average plus and average minus one standard deviation, respectively, for the same three-month period.

After the previous week’s downturn, all four currencies extended their downward trajectories toward the end of October, showing a general mixed performance throughout the month with periods of brief recoveries and weaknesses. The Czech koruna (CZK) briefly strengthened, reaching its rolling tree-month average of around 0.05, before declining again toward the end of the month. The Hungarian forint (HUF) mirrored the general pattern, touching its average, a trend similar to the fluctuations observed between September and October. The Polish zloty (PLN) rose above its mean level in mid-October but later depreciated below 0.27. The Romanian leu (RON) remained relatively stable around 0.23 showing limited volatility but ending the period as the weakest among the four at 0.23 during this observation period.

Additional Reading

What Drove This Week's Volatility? Could the Fed’s policy shift on October 29 have coincided with the regional Appreciation observed across CEE currencies? Understanding October 29^th