Estonia may opt for euro adoption in mid-2010

Estonia is capable of complying with the Maastricht (euro) criteria this year.. July 1, 2010," Andrus Ansip said during a media briefing. Ansip said later this year recession-hit Estonia might ask the European Commission and European Central Bank for an assessment on the country's preparedness to adopt the common currency. He urged lawmakers to draw up a supplementary state budget to bring down the deficit to 3 percent of gross domestic product, the level required for adopting the euro.

Estonia is undergoing its steepest recession since independence in 1991. The statistics office announced Wednesday that GDP shrank 3.6 percent last year and 9.7 percent in the fourth quarter, making it the second worst performing economy in the EU after neighboring Latvia. Liechtenstein pledges tax openness Adopting the euro has been a key target for the Estonian government for many years.

Estonia originally planned to phase the euro in 2007 but was forced to postpone the plan because of high inflation. Inflation has retreated rapidly and amounted to an annual 3.4 percent in February. Analysts expect to continue falling throughout the year. Estonia already fulfills the national debt to GDP ratio another criteria for introducing the euro.

Add comment:

Subject:
Name:  
email:
Code: 

Remark:

Email not will be shown.

Tags forbidden.