Dangers on the road to the euro

If the country joins the ERM2 in 2006, it could translate into joining the eurozone 2008. A nation's presence in the ERM2 mechanism opens it to the risk of speculative attacks on the currencies of the candidate countries. UBM analysts claim that the most exposed countries are those with unstable currencies, such as Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. However, analysts stressed that the new government might change its fiscal policy, which in turn will affect the strategy of accepting the euro. In the meantime, the National Bank of Poland continues to argue that the the government should strive to accept the euro as soon as possible, which could happen as early as in 2007. (Parkiet, p. 6) M.M.