Back within reach
A new deal hammered out by EU finance ministers has given new life to Poland's faint hopes of joining the bloc's monetary union by 2009.
After 12 hours of negotiations, the finance ministers clinched a deal loosening the terms of the Growth and Stability Pact, which requires eurozone members to hold their budget deficits to less than three percent of GDP. The relaxed regulations establish a five-year period during which costs related to pension-fund reform will gradually be deducted from deficit calculations.
"This is a big success for Poland," Dariusz Filar of the Monetary Policy Council, told Reuters. "The new rules now make euro adoption in 2009 within reach."
A.K.
After 12 hours of negotiations, the finance ministers clinched a deal loosening the terms of the Growth and Stability Pact, which requires eurozone members to hold their budget deficits to less than three percent of GDP. The relaxed regulations establish a five-year period during which costs related to pension-fund reform will gradually be deducted from deficit calculations.
"This is a big success for Poland," Dariusz Filar of the Monetary Policy Council, told Reuters. "The new rules now make euro adoption in 2009 within reach."
A.K.
