Romania has pushed the deadline for joining the eurozone beyond 2015, as it was initially planned, while having only announced the 2013 – 2014 as the timeframe when the country should join the Exchange Rate Mechanism II, according to the new convergence plan. The annually revised plan, quoted by Mediafax newswire, is yet to be sent to the European Commission and fails to mention January 1, 2015 as the year when the country plans to join the eurozone. This had been clearly mentioned in the previous convergence document.

Joining the ERM II is a step before the eurozone accession. Before using the unique European currency, a country must comply with the economic criteria mentioned in the Maastricht Treaty. These include a two-year period in the ERM II and a local currency whose rate should not vary by more than 15 percent against Euro.

Romanian president Traian Basescu last week said a discussion will be started within the Romanian Central Bank (BNR), the Government and analysts to figure out whether Romania should stick to its 2015 target for joining the eurozone.

Jeffrey Franks, the head of the International Monetary Fund mission to Romania has recently said countries with a floating exchange rate should not hurry in adopting the single currency, but rather enjoy the advantages of their own monetary policy.

11 countries made up the euro area when the euro was introduced in 1999. There are now 17 members, the newest being Estonia, Slovakia, Cyprus and Malta. More about the eurozone here.

editor@romania-insider.com