romania ’ s real convergence before 2007. afterwards, actual membership in the eu “ convergence club ” has fuelled the catching - up process. the obvious next stage is joining the euro area. a successful adoption of the single currency, however, requires optimal timing. this, as i pointed out before, is mainly conditional upon achieving a high - enough level of real convergence, alongside compliance with the nominal convergence criteria. unlike the eu, the euro area is not a “ convergence club ”, as its current members did not necessarily increase their convergence level after adopting the euro. while the optimal level of real convergence for a successful euro area entry is still a hotly debated issue, the consistency and sustainability of real convergence are, in my opinion, at least as important as its level. and in order to remain on track, economic convergence – both real and nominal – must advance in step with the economy ’ s fundamentals lest progress be jeopardised by abrupt setbacks. at the end of the day, forcing convergence is as harmful as postponing it. looking at nominal convergence, between july 2015 and november 2017 romania had been 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches fulfilling all maastricht convergence criteria ( yet without being part of the exchange rate mechanism ). the fact that currently the reference values for the long - term interest rate and inflation are no longer being met is a warning that efforts should be made to achieve nominal convergence in a lasting, rather than coincidental or transitory manner. this is possible only when the two types of convergence reinforce each other. on the way towards sustainable and smooth convergence, a first guiding principle is to avoid divergence. not only across countries ; reducing development gaps within countries is also essential to mitigate the trade - offs challenging the policies confronted with asymmetric shocks. in romania, for instance, one can find areas that are comparable, in terms of development and living standards, to western economies, but also regions that trail well behind. moreover, in 2016, the wealthiest region in romania was almost four times richer than the poorest one ( measured by the regional gdp per capita as a percentage of the euro area average ). the second guiding principle towards sustainable and smooth convergence is to keep going. by this, i mean that progress, once made, should not be undone. we now need to maintain the economy on an upward trend, while being extremely careful to preserve the macroeconomic equilibria restored through a painful adjustment after the crisis. the

4 percent ) and slightly below poland ( 79. 6 percent ). however, growth in romania was not evenly distributed. bucharest is currently above one hundred sixty, while much slower converge took place for other regions. i cannot emphasize strongly enough that continuing and improving the absorption of eu funds is the best way to boost the potential growth of our economy. an additional factor proven to boost the economy is the human capital. understanding the sources of economic growth and the role of education, topics that many papers will cover during this conference, is of paramount importance. 2 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches distinguished audience, last but not least, during your social program, in the carpathian mountains - sinaia and at bran castle - you will discover or re - discover some parts of romania, a country with a rich history. allow me to add a few fun facts about sinaia, which is an eponym of mount sinai. by the end of the 17th century, a group of monks, led by mihail cantacuzino, a landlord of those times, went on a pilgrimage to palestine and the sinai peninsula, to saint ekaterina monastery. once returned, they established a monastery in the poorly inhabited, but abundantly beautiful area, called sinaia monastery. a century later, the first king of romania, carol i fell in love with the place and built pele castle, his summer residence, which you will visit. little by little, sinaia became popular among the members of the high society : they started building summer residences as well as hotels, villas. one can still admire there original buildings of the 19th and early 20th centuries. i hope you will have an enjoyable trip in the carpathians. to conclude, i am confident that the conference will be a successful event. i wish you all fruitful debates and a pleasant stay in romania! thank you! 3 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches