The leu closed at 4.4615/4.4625 per euro, from 4.4525/4.454 per euro Tuesday.
The national currency opened at 4.455/4.457 per euro, but further lost ground, tracking the currencies in the region. It hit the day’s low of 4.464 per euro in mid-trade and market participants said the central bank stepped in and sold euros to prop the leu.
“In the absence of an aggressive intervention from the central bank, the leu is bound to remain on a downward trend against the euro. Assuming the risk appetite in international markets doesn’t change significantly over the next period, the leu will weaken toward a new psychological threshold of 4.5 per euro,” said Vlad Muscalu, senior economist at ING Bank Romania.
The central bank set the leu’s reference at 4.4587 to the euro, the lowest rate on record. Against the US dollar, the leu’s indicative fell 1.3% on the day to 3.5272 units, a new record low since July 2010.
On the money market Wednesday, overnight rates fell to 1.1%-1.6% a year, from 1.8%-2.3% a year Tuesday.