Romania Must Be Fully Prepared To Join The Eurozone – Ctrl Bk

„A delay of one or two years is less important than the fact that we have to be prepared to join the eurozone,” Isarescu told an economic seminar.

Isarescu insisted the central bank doesn’t give up its plans to adopt the euro in 2014-2015, but added such a measure will not be possible unless the leu’s exchange rate stabilizes.

„Joining the European Monetary Union without a balanced exchange rate could trigger (various) problems … It would be dangerous to think about the Union as a panacea,” Isarescu said. „Unless we are ready, we will be entering a black box.”

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He said Greece’s financial troubles might have started with the fact that the country joined the eurozone with an overvalued exchange rate.

Lucian Croitoru, adviser to Isarescu, said that Romania’s plan to enter the ERM-2 mechanism in 2012 is very challenging, because the population is not too keen on the fiscal adjustments required for such a step.

„Adjusting the (budget) deficit to 3% of the gross domestic product is necessary. It’s difficult, because we are talking about 2012, but it’s compulsory if we want to adopt the euro in 2015,” Croitoru told reporters.

Late March, the International Monetary Fund’s head said Romania could adopt the European currency later than planned, adding that the country needs to consolidate its monetary and fiscal policies to stay on track.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, IMF Managing Director, said delaying the euro adoption by one or even two years might be a good thing for Romania.