Romania fills only three of five criteria for joining the Eurozone

Romania doesn’t currently fulfill all five quantitative criteria for joining the Eurozone and it will be reappraised two year from now, according to the convergence report made public by the European Commission on Wednesday, June 4, 2014. According to recent statements from Romanian Government officials, Romania should be ready to enter the Eurozone by January 1, 2019. Six other countries which were assessed, which include Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Sweden, also don’t fill the criteria, the report shows. The only exception is Lithuania, which fulfils all conditions for adopting the euro. Of the five quantitative criteria, Romania ticks three, which are public debt level, budget deficit and long term interest rates. However, Romania still needs to make progress on inflation rate and exchange rate stability, according to the report. “In Romania, 12-month average inflation was above the reference value at the last convergence assessment in 2012. The average inflation rate in Romania during the 12 months to April 2014 was 2.1 percent, above the reference value of 1.7 percent. It is projected to remain above the reference value in the months ahead,” the report states. The full report, in PDF, in English, here. Andrei Chirileasa, andrei@romania-insider.com