Slovenia ready for the euro in 2007

[ART]

"The Commission has said that Slovenia meets all the macroeconomic and fiscal criteria to belong to the eurozone, notwithstanding the "high risk" of excessive budgetary spending and the rising pension costs related to the country's ageing population. Accordingly, Slovenia appears set to switch over to the common European currency on 1 January 2007.

The Baltic states of Estonia and Latvia are struggling with high inflation fuelled by their rapid economic growth, and thus their joining the eurozone is likely to be delayed. Under the EU's criteria, the rate of inflation must be within 1.5% of the average of the three EU countries with the lowest rates. This target currently stands at 2.6%. Estonia's inflation rate was 4.1% in December 2005, while Latvia registered 6.9%. Estonia's original euro zone target date was and still is 2007 with Latvia aiming to join a year later. The Commission considers Estonia's bid feasible, while for Latvia it could be "very difficult" to join in 2008.

The prospects of Lithuania, which is also aiming to adopt the euro in 2007, will be assessed by the Commission later in February.

Meanwhile, Cyprus, Malta and Slovakia have already entered the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM II), which is considered the waiting room for the euro."

[Totengräber]

I think it´s ok, a small country like Slowenia can´t make a big mistake...

[tinka]

i'm sorry its a dutch artikel
Maybe somebody else can make a good translation , my english is not that good ore perfect

Sloveense premier geeft euro schuld van hoge inflatie
De Sloveense premier Janez Jansa zegt dat de invoering van de euro in zijn land, in januari vorig jaar, de inflatie mee de hoogte in heeft gejaagd. De levensduurte in het Balkanland steeg bij de meeste van alle eurolanden.

Probleem
"De hoge inflatie is een probleem voor Slovenië", verklaarde de premier. In december lagen de prijzen van consumptiegoederen in Slovenië 5,6 procent hoger dan het jaar voordien. Volgens Jansa is 0,6 procentpunt te wijten aan de invoering van de euro. Dat is meer dan het dubbele dan de Europese Commissie had berekend. Meer dan de helft van de hoge inflatie is het gevolg van de stijgende prijzen voor voeding en energie, gaf Jansa nog toe.

België
Ook in België woedde bij de invoering van de euro het debat over de impact op de levensduurte. Vooral kleine prijzen, bijvoorbeeld in de horeca, werden immers afgerond. (bloomberg/sam)

[tabbs]

Instead of translating, I'll just post a link to an English language article.
http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1199712736.43

Christian