The State of Nominal Convergence in Romania in the Context of Joining the Euro Area

The repeated postponement of the deadlines set for Romania’s accession to the Eurozone as well as the challenges facing the nominal convergence criteria raised many questions among the European community regarding the competitiveness of the Romanian economy in relation to the economies of the European countries adopting the single currency. The present paper aims to present the current state of nominal convergence our country manages to achieve and to import compliance with these criteria by exemplifying the concept of optimal monetary areas. The adoption of the single currency must be achieved in the context of sustainable convergence that guarantees the minimization of costs caused by the renunciation of national monetary policy. To achieve this goal, the present paper presents the optimal context that Romania’s shift to the single currency should take into account in order to maximize its benefits from the beginning of this irreversible process.