January 16 (SeeNews) - The Romanian leu fell to an all-time low against the euro on Tuesday amid a political crisis caused by the resignation of prime minister Mihai Tudose.
The central bank, BNR, set its reference exchange rate at 4.6599 lei per euro on Tuesday, 0.74% weaker than 4.6256 lei per euro on Monday.
On Tuesday morning, the leu changed hands between 4.6340 and 4.6651 per euro, according to real-time interbank forex trading data published by information portal Conso.ro.
In December, CFA Romania, an association of investment professionals, said they expect an exchange rate of 4.6891 lei per euro in the following six months and 4.7329 lei per euro in 2018.
In 2017, the leu on numerous occasions hit record lows amid public protests against controversial decisions of the Social Democrat-led government coalition.
On Tuesday, Romania's president Klaus Iohannis named defence minister Mihai Fifor as interim prime minister following the resignation of Mihai Tudose, and invited the main political parties to consultations on Wednesday.
Tudose resigned on Monday evening after only six months in office, after the decision-making body of the governing Social Democrat Party (PSD) voted to withdraw the party's support for him.
This is the second time in less than a year that PSD sacks its own government.
At the end of 2017, Romanians protested for seven Sundays in a row against against government plans to appoint the country's chief prosecutor without the consent of the president. Critics see this and other planned changes to the Criminal Code as attempts to weaken the fight against corruption.
(1 euro=4.6599 lei)