Gronicki says Poland now in position to enter euro zone by 2009

Finance Minister Mirosław Gronicki said yesterday that Poland has high chances of entering the euro zone by 2009. "Today we are closer to meeting the Maastricht criteria than Portugal, Italy or Spain five years before they entered the common currency zone," he said. Prime Minister Marek Belka wants his colleagues to reach a compromise on the community budget for years 2007-2013. The main obstacle is the German stance, which says the country is unable to pay in more that 1% of its GDP, while the Commission's project envisages collecting 1.14% of GDP from all Member States. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B2; Gazeta Wyborcza, pp. 21, 24, 26) D.W.