NBR is adamant about adopting euro in 2015 and proposes 11-month transition

In the face of Government indecision, the central bank is adamant about Romania joining the eurozone in 2015. The novelty is a potential 11-month transition period -between January 1st 2015 and December 2015, the euro and the leu would circulate in parallel, although normally the transition would last two months.

The euro could be introduced in Romania in January 2015, according to the initial schedule, but will be used in parallel with the euro for a further 11 months from adoption, much longer than the standard two-month period. The latest countries to join the eurozone, Slovenia (2007), Slovakia (2009) and Estonia (in 2011), have had a 16-day transition. France and Germany had two months of parallel circulation.

This unusually long 11-month period could allow time for Romania's macroeconomic indicators to reach convergence, so the adoption would practically be achieved in 2015.

In a first stage, the government did not mention January 1st 2015 as a target in the Convergence Programme, a document that is sent every year to Brussels. However, things changed on Friday. The Government and the NBR (National Bank of Romania) decided to keep 2015 as a deadline for the adoption of the euro, with the target also being mentioned in the Convergence Programme adopted by the Government on Friday, which will be sent to the European Commission, according to sources quoted by Mediafax. So, the 11 months of "extension" are set to be approved in Brussels.

Prime Minister Emil Boc specified on Friday evening that the precise date of joining the euro had not been set, and would be agreed with European partners.

The proposal came virtually out of the blue on Friday, in a meeting of ruling coalition parties which was also attended by governor Mugur Isărescu, after in the past two months the authorities had only talked about the need to reconsider January 2015 as a date amid the deterioration of economic indicators during the crisis.