The Romanian leu will likely gain about 5 percent against the euro this year as an International Monetary Fund-led package of loans helps improve the country's economy, Citigroup Inc. said.

The leu may gain to 3.95 per euro by the end of 2009, Citigroup's economist Ilker Domac said, a 5.2 percent increase.

Romania's currency has appreciated 2.9 percent from March 25 when the country agreed to international loans from the IMF and European Union worth 20 billion euros ($27 billion) to help finance its current-account and budget deficits. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index has advanced 11 percent since Group of Seven industrialized nations said on April 24 they saw "signs of stabilization" in the world economy, Bloomberg reported.

"The presence of a more credible macroeconomic framework supported by a sizeable IMF-EU-led financial package should support the leu," Domac said.

"We expect the leu at around 4.10 in the second quarter and 4.00 in the third quarter."