Central bank advisor Adrian Vasilescu explained that Dancila will be a consultant within the institution’s Green Economy Department, one of five departments set up within the central bank to prepare Romania’s euro area accession.
“Mrs. Dancila is not an advisor to the governor but within the Green Economy Department. Financing for a green economy will be a special category in our efforts to join the euro-zone. Mrs. Dancila’s experience as former prime minister and former member of the European Parliament and her contacts in Brussels could open many doors. Romania needs lobbying in this euro-adoption process,” said Vasilescu.
Dancila, 57, was Romania’s prime minister between May and November 2019. She was the last in a series of prime ministers appointed when Liviu Dragnea, social-democrat leader at that time and currently serving a prison sentence for corruption, was barred from taking on the role himself due to a suspended prison sentence.
Mugur Isarescu was renewed for a new term as central bank governor in July 2019, during Dancila’s tenure as prime minister. He has been central bank governor since 1990 except for 11 months in 1999-2000 when he served as the country’s prime minister.
Romania hopes to join the euro area waiting room in 2024-2025 and adopt the single European currency 2027–2028. The country currently meets none of the convergence criteria – price stability, sound public finances, exchange rate stability and convergence in long-term interest rates – required for euro adoption.