Romania's central bank said on Tuesday it was looking for the "optimal way" to counter significant capital outflows amid steep falls in the leu currency after a hard-right opposition leader won the first round of a repeat presidential election.

Far-right leader George Simion was the clear winner of the first round of Romania’s presidential election vote, and will face a pro-EU centrist in the run-off on May 18. With nearly 99 per cent of domestic votes and more than 80 per cent of diaspora votes counted late on Sunday,

George Simion, leader of the hard-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, has emerged as the clear frontrunner in Romania’s presidential election redo, securing 40.5 per cent of the vote with nearly all ballots counted.

Romania’s interim president has appointed a new prime minister. The move on Tuesday came a day after Marcel Ciolacu stepped down following the failure of his coalition’s candidate to make the runoff in a rerun of the presidential election.

Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu announced his resignation on Monday, a day after the governing coalition’s joint candidate failed to advance to the runoff in the European Union country’s critic