VILNIUS - Governor of the Bank of Lithuania Reinoldijus Sarkinas said he was convinced that the country's economy would be ready for the euro in 2007.
Lithuania, he told Reuters in an interview this week, already complies with the Maastricht criteria on the budget deficit, inflation and sovereign debt levels.
And since the litas is already pegged to the euro - and has been for two years already - it will be simple for the Baltic country to join the exchange rate mechanism.
The central banker was optimistic about the effects of joining the euro zone on the Lithuanian economy. "A fast introduction of the euro would increase our economic growth, as the experience of other European countries indicates," he said.
