Against the US dollar, the leu’s indicative lost 0.6% to 3.2936 units.
The leu fell against the euro during early trading hours Tuesday, after Basescu announced it would not sign Romania’s latest memorandum of understanding with International Monetary Fund. The memorandum stipulates, among others, the introduction of a new tax on fuel as of 2014.
Basescu argued the new tax would hinder economic growth and asked the Parliament reconsider the measure.
The leu opened down at 4.442/4.445 per euro, from 4.434/4.4355 per euro at Monday close. It further depreciated and hit an intraday low of 4.478 to the euro.
“The leu is bound to weaken further on the short-term, following yesterday’s announcement regarding the IMF memorandum,” said one dealer.