convergence criteria


convergence criteria

requirements before a member of the EUROPEAN UNION may adopt the Euro as its currency as part of ECONOMIC AND MONETARY UNION. The criteria are: the ratio of government deficit to gross domestic product must not exceed 3 per cent; the ratio of government debt to gross domestic product must not exceed 60 per cent; there must be a sustainable degree of price stability and an average inflation rate, observed over a period of one year before the examination, which does not exceed by more than 1.5 percentage points that of the three best performing Member States in terms of price stability; there must be a long-term nominal interest rate which does not exceed by more than two percentage points that of the three best performing Member States in terms of price stability; the normal fluctuation margins provided for by the exchange-rate mechanism must be respected without severe tensions for at least the last two years before the examination.