Anghel has coordinated a study on The Balance Exchange Rate and Its Factors - Romania's Case launched by the National Commission for Projection earlier in the day.
'Not even in tourism do we manage to have the extra money the Bulgarians succeed in having from tourist visits, at two billion euros, which also helps the current account. /.../ The economic policies should focus on an attempt to curb a range of major weaknesses the Romanian economy has with respect to the rate of exchange, to its bid to join the Euro zone, to the exchange rate of balance. We need to absorb the European funds, we need /.../ a growth of the potential gross domestic product, we need government strategies for drawing investments, support for the agricultural sector, because we still have commercial deficit. We must narrow the current account deficit and we have a potential for development, in tourism included', Anghel stressed.
He added the risk premium has an influence on the exchange rate.
'The risk premium is the most important element having an influence on the exchange rate. If Romania does not have a good image, if the international investors do not have a positive perception, because the risk premium means perception, this thing hits us all. What happens in the Euro zone also has an impact on us, also by means of the risk premium. Over 2017-2020 we have the least choices. We must take such things into account if we want to stay as little as possible in the Exchange Rate Mechanism II', he underscored.
According to the study, Romania should join the Exchange Rate Mechanism II if it wants to adopt the euro during 2017-20.
'In 2018-2020 we'll be able to halve the speed of the evolution of the current account deficit. Services are aligned with the Euro zone prices at only a third when considering the purchasing power parity and by around 2020 we'll stand at 50 percent of the Euro zone levels for services', the study coordinator explained.
