Romania 'could adopt the euro as early 2012'
Property investors in Romania could be buoyed by new claims from a World Bank official that Romania could adopt the euro as its currency as early as 2012.
Catalin Pauna, an economist at the World Bank's Bucharest centre, said that although the country plans to adopt the currency in 2014, it is "conceivable" that the Romania might be able to switch from the leu by 2012.
However, the expert told the Ziarul Financiar news provider that the process of convergence with the euro should not be rushed, based on the experience of other states that have joined the eurozone.
He explained: "I believe eastern European countries must consider both the benefits and the disadvantages generated by adoption of the euro and must not hurry if they don't have similar structures to those of the other partners."
In April, Murgur Isarescu - governor of the Bank of Romania - compared the Romanian currency to a fictional boxer when he described it as a "finance Rocky", referring to the resilience of the leu - a currency that has "moved onto attack".
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