BCR Says Romania May Adopt Euro In 2014, But Needs Economic Reform

"Even though Romania has registered solid progress as regards convergence, it has yet a long way to travel, BCR economist Dumitru Dulgheru said.

Dulgheru said the rising inflation and foreign debt are just temporary, adding the euro adoption in 2014 is still achievable.

Central bank governor Mugur Isarescu said late February that the euro adoption timetable might not be met, if inflation is not going down in a sustainable way in 2008 and 2009.

Under Maastricht criteria, inflation in the countries that want to adopt euro should not exceed by more than 1.5 percentage points the average inflation of the first three countries with the lowest inflation.

Also, the budget deficit should not exceed 3% of gross domestic product at the end of the year, and the public debt shouldn’t be higher than 60% of GDP.

Two years before euro adoption, the countries that want to enter the ERM II exchange mechanism should prove stability of their national currency, which has to move within a band of plus or minus 15% to the euro.