Euro lift for the Polish economy
The euro would lift the Polish economy thanks to higher trade and foreign investments, the Polish central bank chief said last week.
"Having the euro would contribute about 0.2-0.4 percent of gross domestic product to growth annually," Leszek Balcerowicz told an economic conference in Brussels. "This would help our growth via the expansion of trade and attracting foreign investors."
Currently, Poland hopes to join the euro in 2009 at the earliest, but even this date is met with skepticism.
Balcerowicz said economic growth in the 10 new member states would be faster than in the other 15 EU countries thanks to a catching-up effect and that financial sectors in those countries would grow even faster than their GDP.
Poland's gross domestic product grew 5.3 percent in 2004 against a eurozone average of two percent, but is expected to slump to around 4.4 percent this year. Balcerowicz blamed "the lack of certain structural reforms, such as product market deregulation and labor market deregulation" for the EU's poor growth.
He also stressed the need for a full liberalization of the EU's services sector, continuing a debate that has preoccupied European institutions for the past few months. Any such liberalization of the marketplace has been fiercely resisted by France and Germany and has little hope of being realized, as member states fear that such moves could jeopardize the public ratification of the EU Constitution in referendums around Europe. (Reuters)
"Having the euro would contribute about 0.2-0.4 percent of gross domestic product to growth annually," Leszek Balcerowicz told an economic conference in Brussels. "This would help our growth via the expansion of trade and attracting foreign investors."
Currently, Poland hopes to join the euro in 2009 at the earliest, but even this date is met with skepticism.
Balcerowicz said economic growth in the 10 new member states would be faster than in the other 15 EU countries thanks to a catching-up effect and that financial sectors in those countries would grow even faster than their GDP.
Poland's gross domestic product grew 5.3 percent in 2004 against a eurozone average of two percent, but is expected to slump to around 4.4 percent this year. Balcerowicz blamed "the lack of certain structural reforms, such as product market deregulation and labor market deregulation" for the EU's poor growth.
He also stressed the need for a full liberalization of the EU's services sector, continuing a debate that has preoccupied European institutions for the past few months. Any such liberalization of the marketplace has been fiercely resisted by France and Germany and has little hope of being realized, as member states fear that such moves could jeopardize the public ratification of the EU Constitution in referendums around Europe. (Reuters)
