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Poland's new government against introduction of euro

PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge 17.11.2015 08:52
Henryk Kowalczyk, a minister in the new government, has argued that current conditions are not favourable for introducing the euro to Poland at anytime in the foreseeable future.
Minister Henryk Kowalczyk, head of  Poland's Council of Ministers, during Monday's swearing-in ceremony. Photo: PAP/Jacek TurczykMinister Henryk Kowalczyk, head of Poland's Council of Ministers, during Monday's swearing-in ceremony. Photo: PAP/Jacek Turczyk

“When it comes to the euro, the opinion in our [parliamentary] club is practically unanimous,” commented Minister Kowalczyk, who heads Poland's Council of Ministers.

“Under current conditions it would make no sense to introduce the euro,” he argued.

“Potentially in some years’ time conditions will have changed,” he added.

“Thanks to the złoty, Poland has the ability to react to various economic events, but in addition there is no threat of [Poland] falling into a debt spiral, as for instance Greece has done,” Kowalczyk explained.

The minister, who was sworn in on Monday, pointed to differences between the earnings and purchasing powers of Poles and citizens of the Eurozone, which according to him are currently too great for euro adoption to work.

This follows on from comments made a few days ago by Finance Minister Paweł Szałamacha, who also said that the government will not be pursuing euro adoption in the foreseeable future.

“Law and Justice [PIS, the governing party] advocates remaining of the Polish złoty, and the adoption of the euro is not a priority for us,” Szałamacha wrote.

This appears to increasingly be the consensus as at the end of last week Marek Belka, governor of the National Bank of Poland, argued that Poland should not be in a hurry to introduce the euro.

“The crisis has shown that there exist scenarios in which a currency union, with the implied lack of an own currency and monetary policy, can be very harmful,” he added.(sl/nh)

Source: PAP

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