Aspiring Euro Members Told To Focus On Recovery

PAN PYLAS

LONDON (AP) — The crisis-stricken nations of Central and Eastern Europe should not be too hasty in planning to join the eurozone but rather focus on recovering from the financial crisis, a top official at the European Central Bank said Monday.

Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell, a member of the executive board of the European Central Bank, said in a speech in Vienna that the financial crisis and the associated global recession has made it more difficult for prospective euro members in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) to join the single currency club.

She urged governments in the region to be realistic about their attempts to join the euro and said an overly ambitious timetable for adopting the euro could be damaging.

"I should emphasize that entering the euro area prematurely — that is before a sufficient degree of convergence and economic flexibility — would not be a panacea for the CEE countries to overcome the crisis impact," she said.

"On the contrary, a premature entry into the euro area would deprive the countries from important adjustment tools and would therefore not be in the interest of the country joining," she added.