Poland's euro entry plan to be ready next year

Nov 5, 2009, 15:12 GMT

   Warsaw - Poland will have a national plan ready next year to adopt the euro currency, Deputy Finance Minister Ludwik Kotecki said Thursday.

   Kotecki said Poland should adopt the euro 'as quickly as possible,' adding that the national plan would be published in mid-2010. He gave no target for adoption of the euro.

Witold Kozinski, vice-head of the National Bank of Poland, said adopting the euro was justified for both economic and political reasons.

   Kozinski said Poland in mid-2010 should have an inflation of 2.5 per cent, and will thus meet inflation threshold for adoption of the euro.

   Entry requirements allow inflation of not more than 1.5 per cent above the best-performing EU members.

   Prime Minister Donald Tusk surprised many analysts by saying last year that Poland would adopt the euro currency by 2012. However officials later said the date could be too ambitious because of the financial crisis.

President Lech Kaczynski warned against adoption of the euro during a speech in May to parliament. It would be 'risky' to switch to the euro currency during a financial crisis, Kaczynski said, referring to Tusk's plans to adopt the so-called Exchange Rate Mechanism-2, the preparatory stage to switching to the single European currency.

   Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski has said Poland's situation was 'impressive' compared to other nations suffering amidst the financial crisis.

   Poland's gross domestic product beat expectations when it increased by 1.1 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter of this year, surpassing a forecast of .5-per-cent growth.