BUCHAREST, April 7 (Reuters) - Romania cannot join the euro zone earlier than its 2014 target as the bloc's interest rates would be too low at the moment for the country's inflation levels, central bank chief economist Valentin Lazea said on Tuesday.
On Monday, a report cited an IMF document that recommended struggling EU members should switch to the euro, even without full euro zone membership, which boosted regional markets. [ID:nL6497311]
"It would be neither opportune nor possible to join the euro earlier," central bank chief economist Valentin Lazea was quoted as saying by daily Ziarul Financiar.
"The risk is that you no longer have your own monetary policy, the interest rate is set from Frankfurt. If you have 6.9 percent inflation and 1.25 percent interest rate, it is clear you cannot control inflation."
European Central Bank Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny told Reuters on Monday that emerging European countries should not unilaterally adopt the euro because this would undermine confidence in the euro, (Reporting by Luiza Ilie; Editing by David Stamp)