Stiri	Stiri afaceri	Stiri companii	Evenimente de afaceri

Year 2015, realistic for Romania's accession to Eurozone

Year 2015 is a reasonable one for Romania's accession to the Eurozone, senior economist with Banca Romana de Dezvoltare - Groupe Societe Generale (BRD-GSG) Florian Libocor told a conference on Romania in 2010 held on Thursday in Bucharest.

'I believe year 2015 is a reasonable one for Romania acceding to the Eurozone. When talking about the accession, both gains and losses have to be weighted in. We must be prepared to join the Eurozone, otherwise we will have to give up on monetary leverages, such as the exchange rate and interest rates,' said Libocor.

He also argued that starting to tax agriculture is not a solution, because individual farmers will not be able to pay their dues.

As regards the banking system, which he rated as solid and supportive of the Government when funding was needed, Libocor underscored that the foreign banks operating in Romania have supported the Government for the right prices given by the market and there has never been talk of them hiding or pulling out.

'Lending can be aimed at consumption or investment, and the US has showed that consumption and recycling are no sources for growth. There is also no growth on exports or consumption either,' said Libocor.

The Government should draw up its budget in a multi-annual manner and the most efficient way would be improving collection, said the BRD-GSG economist. He added that, speaking on his behalf and not the behalf of BRD-GSG, he believes marvels can be worked in the area of tax collection, but increasing taxes in Romania may lead to a rise in tax dodging. He added that the weight of the underground economy in Romania is somewhere between 24-45 percent of the Gross Domestic Product.

He also said that Romania's credit rating should improve in 2010.

Romania intends to join the ERM2 Exchange Rate Mechanism in 2012 and switch over to the single European currency, the euro, on January 1, 2015.

Officials of the National Bank of Romania (BNR) have recently stated that the official solution of the switchover to the euro on January 1, 2015 could boost the Romanian economy. 'Pushing the switchover beyond that would affect economic growth because of the transaction costs. The solution that reconciles the two extremes would be joining ERM2 in 2012; drawing up the convergence reports and the final decision in 2014 and switching over to the euro on January 1, 2015,' BNR officials said late last year.

Sursa: http://www.agerpres.ro

Tags: romania romanias eurozone accession bnr brd euro

Articole similare