Every year there seems to be a voice claiming that “Romania is switching to Euros very soon!” But here we are again, still counting our lei… and probably we’ll keep doing it for a while now.
As a Romanian, I’ve lost track of how often I’ve heard officials claim that Romania will adopt the Euro in the next few years, only for the dates to pass quietly without change. It seems that Romania will never switch to using the Euro…
So if you’re also asking yourself when exactly will Romania adopt the EU’s currency, the reality is that nobody knows for sure, but it’s definitely not happening anytime soon.
While there are fewer and fewer countries in the EU not using Euros, Romania remains among those sticking to their national currency, the Romanian Leu. You might even be surprised by how rare it is to pay with actual Euros here.
Apart from a few touristy hotels and maybe some shops at airports, Euros aren’t readily accepted anywhere else, although – funny enough – many prices are in Euros, then converted to the Romanian Leu.
Romania is not ready to adopt the Euro
Various voices – including the country’s Finance Minister claim that Romania might be ready to switch to Euro in 2029 or 2030 (source: Adevarul, Romanian newspaper).
But before getting there, we still have four essential EU conditions to meet:
- Stable prices (low inflation)
- Sound public finances (limited deficits and national debt)
- Stable exchange rates
- Low long-term interest rates
Interestingly, a few years back, Romania briefly met three out of four criteria. However, as of today, Romania doesn’t meet any of them fully.
Inflation is a persistent issue, public debt has grown, and the country is not part of the Exchange Rate Mechanism II (ERM II) to guarantee stable and real exchange rates.
I say “REAL” because Romania’s National Bank (BNR) constantly interfered to keep the exchange rate stable, at just around 5 Lei per Euro for the past few years. If they would suddenly stop doing this, an Euro would instantly cost a lot more.
Romania might start using Euros by the end of the decade
Over the years, multiple dates have come and gone. Back in 2017, I remember hearing confidently that by 2022, Romania would finally adopt the Euro. That never happened. Before that, we had targets of 2019, 2022, and then 2024. Each year these goals kept shifting.
There is still time for the country to switch to using EU’s currency by 2030, as the latest predictions say, as long as the officials focus on this (they don’t seem to, though).
Income and Affordability
The Romanian economy and the incomes of Romanians play a crucial role here. Many officials and economists fear switching to the Euro too soon could severely affect lower-income individuals.
Things are improving, though. The minimum wage has increased dramatically in the past several years, making a potential switch more manageable.
Even more important, pensions have grown to a minimum of almost €300, although in 2023, many retirees had pensions of under €100. So we can see that there’s progress, although slow.
Romanians want to adopt the Euro
Public opinion about adopting the Euro has fluctuated over time, according to various surveys. For example, in 2014, 74% of the Romanians wanted to switch to the Euro. The amount dropped to 68% in 2015 and hit its lowest in 2016 – 55%.
However, the latest survey from 2023 says that Romanians have once again gained faith in the European currency, with 71% supporting the switch (source here). This is interesting, as Eurosceptics and various extremist political groups are gaining popularity in the country.
Croatia recently switched to using the Euro and their prices have seen a temporary increase which settled down eventually. While I don’t think many people in Romania know about this, the experience of other countries could still have at least a bit of an impact.
My Personal Take on Romania’s Euro Adoption
As someone who has closely followed this issue, I genuinely think it’ll be at least another decade before Romania can adopt the Euro – unless the EU decides to push the matter strongly.
But realistically, that’s unlikely. Romania benefits from controlling its currency, especially as it continues recovering economically from challenges like inflation and high poverty rates.
For now, people earning income in Euros or USD will still find Romania affordable due to favorable exchange rates, even though the cost of living is increasing tremendously here, as various prices show.
What do you think, though? Should Romania switch to using Euros as quickly as possible or it’s better to stick to the Romanian Leu?
Having lived in Romania for over 4 decades, I am here to tell you everything about this beautiful country. I hold a bachelor’s degree in Journalism, I love traveling and I’ve been writing about Romania since 2013. Currently living in Constanta.
While some big ticket items, such as automobiles, are priced in Euros, I’m finding that for me, paying rent is the only transaction where I’m using Euros… and even then it’s an option for Lei. The difficulty I’m having with currency is managing all the different bank accounts. Aside from my accounts in the US, I’ve got three to watch over here in Romania. Lei, Euros and Dollars, all stashed in separate accounts, even though at one bank. I’m finding it’s a shell game trying to plan for living expenses and travel outside of Romania, all while watching for the optimal exchange rates in order to shuffle money around. I can see how, for me, the economy moving from Lei to Euros would simplify this back and forth, but I like how roughly four Lei equal one Dollar. This means figuring the price of an item on-the-fly is easy. The Euro, not so much. Believe me, I’m no mathematician.
Yeah, I am sure it’s difficult at first. Rounding up is the way to do it, although you do miss the exact price. Even the dollar is 3.90 lei right now… but with the Euro being 4.7, math is even more difficult. Especially in your case when you probably have to calculate USD to RON, then RON to EUR. Hopefully this will get easier over time 🙂
I am scratching my head because, in general, people on fixed incomes, pensioners for instance, like “hard” currencies because they don’t lose value due to inflation. Right now, I think the Leu is about 4.57 to the Euro. If Romanian pensioners are now getting the equivalent of 100 Euros, that means they are getting about 457 Leu per month. A week currency like the Leu will lose value, that means that 457 Leu a month will buy less and less as inflation increases the prices for housing, food, clothing, etc. Of course, the Romanian government gives these pensioners a cost-of-living increase in Leu too. The strength of having your own currency is that you can print more of your own currency and devalue it if you want. Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain (“The PIGS,” yes I left out Ireland) all gave up their weak currencies for the Euro. Their populations were quite happy at the beginning, but soon massive trade deficits with Northern European countries made it impossible for these countries to keep paying their pensioners, and supporting generous welfare systems, without heavy borrowing in the Eurobond market. They could not print any Euros! We know what happened to Greece. It went over the debt precipice and had to be bailed out, causing much resentment in the Northern European countries. The right-wing populist movement in Germany got its start because of this bailout (later, that populist movement morphed into an anti-immigrant movement). Anyway, Spain, Portugal and Italy are still trying not to go under like Greece. Countries with weak non-Euro currencies like Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and even Romania have not had to borrow heavily on the Eurobond market and are sitting pretty relative to the “PIGS.” In light of all this, I don’t see why the Romanian government, which, sorry to say , is every bit as incompetent as that of Greece, would want to take on the Euro. Likewise, I think the Euro countries like Germany are not going to let another “Greece” into the Euro-Zone. Besides, greedy expatriates (like me) from hard currency countries JUST LOVE countries with weak currencies like Mexico, the Philippines, and Romania because our dollars/euros buy more and more of these weak currencies as they devalue. So don’t do it!
I am sure they won’t do it – probably, talks must be held and estimated dates as well, which will keep being pushed back over and over again. Plus, there are, apparently, problems already with the lack of money for pensions and welfare (the latter being a ruin in which most people getting money have no disabilities, but paid doctors to declare them disabled). They already wanted to get their hands on the small private pensions, but public opinion made them change their mind. However, nobody knows what will happen when the knife will hit the bone…
Another problem when switching to Euros is that prices will increase and so will cost of living. People are greedy and they will take this advantage to try and increase their profits, making it even more difficult for those on fixed incomes from the country.
There are many reasons not to make the switch and I personally believe that it will be long before Romania switches to Euros.
Calin:
Can you explain why a lot of Romanian real estate transactions occur in Euros? I believe you said you bought your lovely house with Euros.
Is it that most real estate is owned or managed by non-Romanian entities? So confusing!
I’ve never bought real estate; I’ve only rented. So let’s say I’m très ignorant.;-)
Thanks!
~Teil (USA)
I think that the main reason why all prices are posted in Euros is because that’s the more stable currency. 1,000 lei could be 200 Euros today, but one year from now, they could be worth 180 Euros (as a rough example). There might be other reasons as well but I think that the exchange rate is the main one.
It’s always fun to read the old comments underneath these articles. Who would have thought that the right wing party in Germany that I mentioned in my comment would now have 20% of the seats in the most recent parliamentary elections, making it the second biggest party in Germany? Although the AfD has morphed into a mainly anti-immigrant party, it is still opposed to the Euro and one has to assume it would be just as reckless as Trump is in America if the AfD ever came into power. What would that mean for the Euro if Germany discarded it and went back to its own currency? Yes, maybe France would try to keep it alive but I don’t think they could. Perhaps it’s better for Romania to not be in a hurry to join Euroland.
Let’s see how things look like 8 years from now! At the moment, switching to Euros might indeed be risky (if we have to somehow switch back after just a few years). I truly hope that the currency sticks, though, Europe remains united despite the challenges and Romania adopts the Euro sooner rather than later.