The leu opened down at 4.479/4.481 per euro, from 4.473/4.475 per euro at Thursday close. It recovered in early action to an intraday high of 4.467 per euro, on suspected intervention from the central bank.
Elsewhere in the region, the leu’s peers were losing up to 1.6% against the euro after a widely watch report from the European Union showed unemployment in the eurozone fell to a new historic low of 11% in April.
Market participants said Romania’s central bank sold EUR400 million Thursday and Friday to keep the leu from weakening too much versus the euro.
On the money market, overnight rates were at 4.8%-5.3% a year, little changed on the day.