Continuing reforms and securing a prudent fiscal policy are vital, Jean-Claude Trichet, European Central Bank president, told politicians at the concert the NBR offered on Sunday evening at the Romanian Athenaeum on the occasion of its 130th anniversary.
However, Trichet made no reference to euro adoption, at a moment
when Bucharest authorities are openly talking about the need to
reconsider the euro zone integration calendar.
Fiscal slippage is now the main hurdle in the way of euro adoption,
considering the budgetary gap planned for this year stands at 6.8%,
against the 3% limit accepted for candidate countries.
“Addressing economic policy errors is painful all over the world,
many times hard to understand by the public and inherently late.
Romania’s durable, sustainable development depends on the coherence
of economic policies, and the euro adoption strategy can be the
catalyst insuring this coherence,” said NBR governor Mugur Is`rescu
in his speech before the concert at the Athenaeum.
ECB head congratulated Is`rescu for his monetary policy decisions
during such a difficult period and for his contribution to
financial stability, through a close supervision of the banking
system.