President of the National Bank of Poland(NBP) Slawomir Skrzypek said on Wednesday that Poland would join the euro zone if the move proves profitable.

"I stand by my earlier opinion that we should join the euro zone when this is profitable for the country," the PAP news agency quoted Skrzypek as saying.

The central bank will start working on a report outlining the pros and cons of Poland's euro zone entry at the turn of the first quarter, Skrzypek told the media after Wednesday's meeting of the Polish Monetary Policy Council (RPP).

The RPP left all the NBP interest rates unchanged Wednesday. Its main rate stands at 4 percent. The January RPP meeting was the first under the chairmanship of Skrzypek who was appointed NBP chief earlier this month.

Skrzypek said that Poland was going through "a period of zloty (the Polish currency) stability." The present levels of the zloty exchange rate "should continue and we can expect an appreciation rather than a depreciation," Skrzypek added.

Of the 10 new EU nations, Poland is the only one which has not set a timetable for joining the euro zone. Four 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