There was no economic rationale for Lithuania to stay out of the euro zone since the country had chosen the currency board regime many years ago and its national currency, the litas, was a de facto substitute for the euro, he said in an interview with the Verslo Žinios business daily on Tuesday.
“The country does not implement an independent monetary policy; however, Lithuania cannot take part in the euro zone’s decision-making, cannot get loans from the European Central Bank. Lithuania’s not being a euro zone member leads to many limitations,” Šemeta said.
On the other hand, according to him, people have already forgotten that many experts warned after the onset of the economic crisis of 2008-2009 that Lithuania would not be able to maintain its currency exchange rate, that it would have to devalue its currency, which raised tensions among investors.
“Now the situation is entirely different and Lithuania’s risks are incomparably smaller than at that time. However, such a monetary regime entails certain currency risks and one cannot be sure that there will not be any such crises in a decade or so. Accession to the euro zone would eliminate those risks and there would not be any concerns about the currency of the deposits, which is important for private individuals and companies,” Šemeta said.
Estonia had already joined the euro zone and the Latvians were “in the entryway”. Lithuania should therefore make no delay in following the suit of these Baltic countries, he added.
