PM: Euro Nod Good News for Slovenia
Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa has said that "Slovenia has received good news" as he responded to the European Commission's decision to recommend that Slovenia be admitted to the eurozone on 1 January 2007.
In Jansa's opinion, the European Commission's report on Slovenia's readiness for the euro reflects the actual situation in Slovenia, which has healthy public finance and a strong economy.
"The introduction of the euro is one of the most important projects in Slovenia," Jansa reiterated, stressing that it "would contribute to improving Slovenia's global image".
According to Jansa, the switch to the euro in Slovenia will be a historic moment that will bring immense positive effects for the country.
The euro will increase macroeconomic stability, simplify the way Slovenian companies do business and make life easier for its citizens, Jansa said at Tuesday's press conference in Ljubljana.
Moreover, in Jansa's opinion, Slovenia is a positive example for the expanded EU given that it will be the only newcomer to introduce the euro in 2007.
Jansa stressed that Slovenia was aware that membership of the eurozone has its responsibilities, foremost as regards retaining the stability of public finances.
Slovenia does not want to follow the example of some eurozone members that are violating the Stability and Growth Pact, the PM said. For this reason, Slovenia intends to hurry up with reform efforts, he added.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Andrej Bajuk stressed that Slovenia would tackle pension system sustainability head on. "We will have to carry out certain structural reforms," he told the press on Tuesday.
"We need to take concrete steps, which the government is already working on," he said, adding that he would like to see consensus reached among all the concerned players in Slovenia on these measures.
Moreover, Bajuk said that the final euro-tolar rate is likely to be very similar to the current parity rate of SIT 239.64 for one euro.
Bajuk also praised former finance minister Dusan Mramor: in his opinion, Mramor deserves a lot of the credit for taking a brave decision to put Slovenia on course for rapid euro adoption.
More articles from this issue:
Archive
|