Fitch: Less monetary independence if Romania adopts euro

Croatia and Bulgaria would benefit the most from adopting the euro among the six EU countries from Central and Eastern Europe that don’t yet have the single currency. Romania and Hungary would be in an intermediary position while Czech Republic and Poland would benefit the least, according to Fitch Ratings. Romania and Hungary would lose the advantages of the independent monetary policy if they joined the euro, Fitch warns. In Romania’s case, the low level of public debt would allow it to keep a certain flexibility. Hungary’s open economy would benefit from reducing the trading costs. Considering the sizeable level of external public debt, adopting the euro would strengthen the foreign financing of Romania and Hungary. However, joining the euro zone remains a distant prospect because it has disappeared from the political agenda of all the six countries in CEE, according to Fitch. editor@romania-insider.com