The leu’s indicative depreciated against the US dollar as well, hitting a historic low of 3.7438 units. Thursday, the leu’s reference rate was at 3.7128 against the greenback.
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 Victor Ponta has plagiarized part of his doctoral thesis. This contradicts the findings of another panel working for the Education Ministry that cleared Ponta of plagiarism.
At around 1:00 pm, the leu traded at 4.586/4.588 per euro, after hitting an intraday record low of 4.59 per euro. The level was surpassed minutes after, when the leu traded at 4.6 per euro, as investors were placing stop-loss orders.
The leu 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.