a significant amount of time ( for example, one cannot solve the population - aging problem overnight ). foreign direct investment in recent years helped total factor productivity, but employers are currently being challenged by the shortage of labour force, in part determined precisely by the significant emigration. as a result, we can even talk now about discouraged employers, as opposed to the periods that follow a crisis, when the employees are the discouraged ones. thus, we have ourselves another dilemma : ensuring that wage levels are compatible with attracting investors, but acknowledging that, at least in certain areas, wages need to come up at present, in order to mitigate the labour force drain, which affects the private and public sector alike. the key is, in my opinion, to increase wages at an adequate, sustainable pace, so as to ultimately benefit from an improved living climate reflected in a higher purchasing power, but also from preserved macroeconomic equilibria, as well as higher - quality public goods – roads in particular –, because, after all, wages are not the only part of the emigration story. speaking about roads, i would like to point out that infrastructure is essential for connecting different regions of romania and promoting cohesion. this is all the more important that, even though eu membership has acted as a catalyst for country - level real convergence, the development gaps across the regions of the new member states, including in romania, have not diminished significantly. let me conclude by recalling the words that otmar issing said during a dinner speech on his leaving the ecb, back in 2006, when things seemed to move into the right direction all by themselves : “ we were all privileged to participate in a historically unique experiment : the creation of a new currency for europe. we had to manoeuvre through uncharted waters and we may not yet have arrived in the promised land ”. it is obvious that for a smooth economic catch - up it is important to maintain a long - term perspective and to implement coherent policies and reforms. 3 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches past achievements in nominal and real convergence, while significant, do not guarantee future success ( for instance, joining other countries in the middle - income trap is a real danger ). a realistic and balanced approach to euro adoption implies that it should be steered taking into consideration absolutely all relevant elements for the sustainability of economic convergence. it is the only way we can safely sail to the port of destination … thank you for your attention and i wish you lively, yet

up development of national economies. the fear of inflation tends to be dwarfed by the desire for quickly - gained prosperity and the central banks ’ “ obsession with stability ” may be seen as a refusal of progress. 2 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches coming back to macroeconomic policies, in order to increase their effectiveness, they should go hand in hand with structural reforms aimed at providing for a more flexible economic environment, so that their combined usage paves the way for a smooth and long - lasting convergence of living standards. in other words, countercyclical policies and structural reforms are not at odds, but in a relation of complementarity. in general, structural reforms are critical for strengthening convergence, ensuring durable growth and making the economy more flexible in order to benefit from euro area entry, as the advantages of euro adoption are not unconditional. what exactly do we mean by structural reforms? as draghi said in 2017, for many, they describe a pragmatic policy agenda to raise long - term growth and accelerate adjustment to shocks, which is essential for countries in a monetary union ; but for others, the term is viewed as a “ catch - all ” for a wide range of policies, some of which have potentially negative short - run costs and adverse distributional effects. one area that would definitely benefit from the implementation of such reforms is the labour market, at a time when the romanian one faces challenges that are certainly not new or uncommon. given our status of an open catching - up economy, within a european union which has at its core the free movement of capital and labour, we were bound to end up sooner or later in somewhat of a dilemma. to be more specific, there are various opinions in our economy about where wages should be : on the one hand, they should be governed by productivity dynamics, so as not to lead to an erosion of the competitive position, yet on the other hand, they cannot be significantly below what is available in other economies, as it would simply lead to a labour force drain, with dramatic consequences if not addressed quickly. we are actually dealing with an emigration problem today, as more than three million romanians ( a significant percentage of the population ) have left their homeland for other eu member states. in order to mitigate this, wages should go up. as noted above, the only way to do that without upsetting competitiveness is to boost productivity. this can be done along a number of avenues, many of them involving, however,