EU sees 2010 as realistic date for Lithuanian euro entry

  • 2006-10-05
  • By TBT staff
Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas said on Oct. 5 that European institutions view Lithuania's new 2010 target date for euro adoption a realistic goal. "I think it is very realistic. The European Central Bank approves of it, at least informally. The European Commission also sees our plan as realistic," Kirkilas told the Ziniu Radijas radio station on Thursday. The premier said that, based on the country's economic performance and the challenges it is facing, the plan during this period is to bring inflation down to the required level. Kirkilas pointed out that some of the challenges faced by the Lithuanian economy were out of the government's control, such as energy costs and the country's commitments to the EU to raise certain excise taxes. Lithuania wanted to introduce the euro from the beginning of 2007, but was refused entry on the grounds that its inflation rate was marginally above the Maastricht limit.