because of significant impediments such as price instability and high interest rates. The president of the European Central Bank said in June 2007 that "Romania has a lot of homework to do... over a number of years" before joining ERM II. The Romanian government announced in December 2009 their official plan to join the Eurozone by 1 January 2015. In 2011, the Romanian government announced it would work to comply with the first four convergence criteria by 2013, but the economy would need further reforms to successfully change to the euro. The delays in adhering to the ERM II In 2012, the governor of the National Bank of Romania (BNR) confirmed that Romania would not meet its target to join the Eurozone in 2015. He addressed the benefits for Romania to not being a part of the euro area during the European debt crisis, but said that the country would strive to comply with all convergence criteria. Concerns about Romania's workforce productivity were also cited for the delay. In 2013, Romania submitted their annual Convergence Program to the European Commission, which did not specify a target date for euro adoption. Prime Minister Victor Ponta stated that Eurozone entry is still a fundamental objective for Romania but they cannot enter unprepared, making 2020 a more realistic entry date. At the same time, the BNR submitted draft amendments for the Romanian Constitution to the European Central Bank (ECB) for review. The amendments would make the BNR's statute an organic law to ensure "institutional and functional stability" and would allow for "transfer of BNR tasks to the ECB and introduction of the Euro as legal tender". In 2014, Romania's Convergence Report set the target date for the euro adoption as 1 January 2019. According to the Erste Group Bank, Romania would be unable to meet this ambitious target by 2019, not in regard to complying with the four nominal convergence criteria values, but in reaching appropriate levels of real convergence (i.e., raising the GDP per capita from 50% to a level above 60% of the EU average) ahead of euro adoption. The Romanian Central Bank governor, Mugur Isărescu, admitted the target was challenging, but obtainable if the political parties passed a legal roadmap for implementing required reforms. This roadmap appeared able to lead Romania to entering the ERM II on 1 January 2017 so that the euro could be adopted after two years