Asked whether the government would abandon the initiatives that might pose a threat to swift adoption of the single currency, he said: “Nobody is considering the raising of minimum wages in the near future now.”
He confirmed to the members of opposition Conservative parliamentary group that the authorities would not hold a referendum on euro adoption since the switchover to the single currency was one of the commitments made by the country when joining the European Union (EU).
“There is no need to hold a referendum since we actually committed ourselves to adopt the euro when acceding to the Union,” he said at the meeting with the Conservative parliamentary group on Tuesday.
He also confirmed that he would not change this approach and would reach an agreement with the Order and Justice Party, a partner in the ruling coalition, which had come up with an initiative to hold a referendum on euro adoption in Lithuania.
Lithuania’s bid to join the euro in 2007 was rejected because its inflation exceeded the Maastricht limit. Now the country plans to switch over to the single currency in 2015. To join the euro zone, a Member State must meet the so-called Maastricht criteria on public finances deficit, inflation, and debt.
