Liviu Dragnea, chairman of the ruling Social Democratic Party, said Tuesday that the government had not had a "serious analysis" about replacing the leu with the euro, which is currently used by 19 European Union countries. His comments follow a suggestion last week from Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu that Romania could start using Europe's single currency by 2022. The foreign minister said later Tuesday he had simply been expressing an opinion about when Romania would be ready to change its currency. He noted that the budget deficit is forecast to be 3 percent of Romania's annual GDP this year — in line with euro rules — and inflation is low. Romania has one of the fastest-growing economies in the European Union.

Source: ABC News August 29, 2017 09:40 UTC