The leu opened at 4.076/4.079 to the euro, lower than 4.0755/4.0765 to the euro at closing Friday.
Within the first hour, the leu hit an early low at 4.087/4.089 against the euro, following higher demand for foreign currency, but then it returned to 4.0835/4.085 against the euro at around GMT0715.
The Romanian central bank set Friday the leu’s reference at 4.0744 to the euro, slightly stronger on the day. The leu continued a four-day rally against the US dollar and hit a new high at 2.7408 units, the strongest rate since December 2008.
On the money market early Monday, overnight rates dropped to 4.9%-5.4% per year, from 5.1%-5.6% per year on Friday.