The leu hit an all-time low of 4.603 per euro on the interbank market before closing at 4.5925/4.595 per euro.
The national currency opened at 4.575/4.578 per euro, from 4.577/4.5795 per euro at Thursday close. It hit an early high of 4.571/4.573 per euro, but turned to losses around noon, pushed by higher demand for euros from non-residents.
Market participants said the growing demand for foreign currency was prompted by an announcement of the Ethics Commission of the Bucharest University saying Prime Minister Ponta has plagiarized part of his doctoral thesis.
This contradicts the finding of another panel working for the Education Ministry that cleared Ponta of plagiarism. Ponta was quoted recently as saying that he would resign his position if he were proven guilty of plagiarism.
The leu’s reference rates weakened to fresh historic lows against both the euro and the US dollar, of 4.5485 units and 3.7438 units, respectively.
The national currency lost around 3% against the euro in the past two weeks, amid political tensions that culminated in the President’s impeachment by parliament. The central bank has stepped in to limit the leu’s depreciation, but its interventions had been less aggressive than in the past.
In the money market Friday, overnight rates fell to 0.98%-1.46% a year, from 1.1%-1.6% a year in the previous day, amid liquidity surplus.