Poland euro may be delayed if crisis persists

Poland and the Euro

Poland euro may be delayed if crisis persists

Postby theeuro on 23 Nov 2008, 08:44

Gabriela Baczynska, Reuters

WARSAW, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Poland may delay its euro adoption planned for 2012 if the financial turmoil continues beyond spring 2009, Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski was quoted as saying on Saturday.
"We can join the ERM-2 corridor in the spring of next year at the earliest. I hope the current turbulences on the currency markets will be over by then," Rostowski told Polska daily in an interview.
Asked what would happen if the crisis goes on after this date -- when Poland is set to enter the ERM-2 according to the government's euro roadmap -- Rostowski said:
"Then we will delay our accession. Our goal remains 2012 for adoption of the euro but this is not ideology."
In order to adopt the common currency the Polish government must also change the constitution, which requires the support of the main opposition, the euro-sceptic Law and Justice (PiS).
Another government official, Deputy Prime Minister Grzegorz Schetyna also said on Saturday the euro plan may be delayed due to the lack of accord with the rightist PiS.
"PiS doesn't want to talk about the euro (...) So we will tell the Poles PiS doesn't want the euro adoption," Schetyna told Polska daily in an interview.
The country's President Lech Kaczynski, a twin brother of PiS's leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, is also sceptical about the plan.
"Then we will not have the euro at least until 2011 when the new president is elected and we have a new general election. Maybe then a new coalition arises that will be able to go on with the project," Schetyna added.
The Polish zloty lost more than 20 percent to the euro since its highest levels in August and now trades at around 3.86 per euro.
A country willing to join the euro zone must firstly spend around two years in the currency exchange rate mechanism ERM-2 where its currency cannot move more than 15 percent on either side of a central parity rate.
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