Currency club benefis
A recent report from the European Commission shows that Poland fulfills two out of five Maastricht convergence criteria - that of inflation and long-term interest rates.
"We don't fulfill the budget-deficit criterion as it will be higher than three percent of GDP, and the only reason for this is bloated social spendings," said central-bank governor Leszek Balcerowicz, adding that the introduction of the common currency could only be beneficial for Poland.
"According to the National Bank of Poland's very cautious estimates, Poland's economic growth would speed up by 0.2-0.4 percent annually after euro adoption. Benefits outweigh the costs. Ceasing the reforms means limiting Poland's development opportunities," Balcerowicz stressed.
The government, however, has no intention of hurrying with the introduction of the single currency, which Poland agreed to adopt in its accession treaty. Recently Finance Minister Zyta Gilowska proposed a referendum on the date of joining the eurozone.
Poland still does not fulfill the currency exchange-rate criterion, as the country is not in the EU's ERM-II system. Poland would also have to introduce changes in the regulations governing the functioning of the central bank. Slovenia will be the first new EU member state to join the eurozone on January 1, 2007.
