June 21 (SeeNews) - The Romanian leu weakened to an all-time low against the euro on Thursday following massive protests on Wednesday sparked by amendments to the Criminal Code passed by parliament earlier this week.
The central bank, BNR, set its reference exchange rate at 4.6695 lei per euro on Thursday, 0.08% weaker than 4.6660 lei per euro on Wednesday.
On Thursday morning, the leu changed hands between 4.6789 and 4.6789 per euro, according to real-time interbank forex trading data published by information portal Conso.ro.
According to ING Bank, analysts, the euro/leu pair is likely to keep moving higher, within a 4.67-4.68 range for today, unless official offers curb the trend again.
"After testing the 4.6700 level for a few days already, the EUR/RON moved higher yesterday, just after local fixing time and traded above 4.6700 for the rest of the day. It will be interesting today to see how comfortable the central bank is with this level, as we are close to historical highs," ING Bank said on Thursday in a daily market snapshot.
On Wednesday night, some 14,000 people gathered in front of the government headquarters, according to estimations by local media. They were protesting against adopted amendments to the Criminal Code, which they see as an attempt to shield criminals and backtrack on the fight against corruption. Another 5,000 people marched peacefully in the citites of Iasi, Cluj, Timisoara, Brasov, Sibiu and Bacau, local media reported.
More protests have been called for Thursday evening via the social neworks.
This is the second time this year when the leu weakens to historic low values.
On January 23, the euro/leu pair traded at 4.6679 following massive protests and political unrest caused by the third government change in just a year.
(1 euro=4.6695 lei)