Adopting the euro will help increase Poland's economic growth by 0.2-04 percent, Leszek Balcerowicz, head of the country's central bank, said here Friday.

Balcerowicz made the comments when he opened a seminar on the strategy for joining the euro zone.

The seminar brought together the presidents of 12 central banks from central and eastern European countries.

The PAP news agency quoted Balcerowicz as saying that the Maastricht criteria, which member countries must meet before they can adopt the euro, are useful, especially the fiscal criteria.

Some criteria are useful from the point of view of interests of a country, although they may be inconvenient for short-sighted politicians, he said.

"It is not a good thing for a country, for its stability and development, to have a big public finances deficit only because of excessive expenses," he said.

The Polish inflation data are in line with projections, although they could rise in the future, he added.

On Dec. 7, Balcerowicz said a referendum on Poland 's joining the euro zone was unnecessary.

He said he was afraid announcing a referendum on the issue, which was already decided on by the society in an earlier referendum held before joining the EU, does not inspire confidence and will instead surprise among EU partners.

Of the 10 new EU nations, Poland is the only one which has not set a timetable for when to join the euro zone. Two months ago,

Polish President Lech Kaczynski said Poland would hold a referendum in 2010 on whether to join the 12-member euro zone.

The Polish harbor fears that joining the euro zone might lead to weaker economic growth once it loses its own currency.

Source: Xinhua