“Adoption of the euro is not a shortterm prospect for Romania and the country requires more time to attain real and nominal convergence. Fitch does not expect it to adopt the euro until 2015,” Fitch said in the report.
The Romanian authorities have set a euro adoption target for 2014.
In order to adopt euro, Romania needs to enter the exchange rate mechanism ERM II two years before adopting the euro, and also meet the Maastricht criteria.
Romania’s public debt currently stands at about 12% of gross domestic product, considerably lower compared with the Maastricht criteria of maximum 60% of GDP.
The budget deficit target for this year is estimated at 2.3% of GDP, but there are voices saying this could exceed the 3% Maastricht limit at the end of the year.
Romanian inflation was at 7.39% at the end of October and was the fifth largest in the European Union, according to Eurostat data.
The key monetary policy rate set by the central bank currently stands at 10.25%.