Romanian minister of finance Adrian Câciu said that 2029 is "a viable target" for joining the euro. But the most important thing in preparing for the euro adoption is the real convergence, which "very few people talk about," Profit.ro reported.

He called for "not hiding behind the crises" when drafting strategic objectives for Romania.

Initially, Romania set 2014 as the target for euro adoption, but the deadline was repeatedly revised to 2019, 2024 and now 2029.

In mid-December 2021, Florin Georgescu, first deputy governor of the National Bank of Romania (BNR), stated at the launch of a book that all targets for joining the euro have been missed, and the next target is the year 2029. The next report on Romania's euro adoption will set 2029 as the target date, Georgescu said.

Romania had a window of opportunity between 2015 and 2017 when it could have applied for the entry into the eurozone's preparatory mechanism ERM II (exchange rate mechanism) given that, at that time, it was meeting all the nominal convergence criteria set by the Maastricht Treaty (on price stability, the sustainability of public finances and the indebtedness, the stability of the exchange rate and the level of long-term interest rates). At this moment, Romania meets none of these criteria.

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andrei@romania-insider.com