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Slovak speaker suggests abandoning the euro

14 December 2010 04:29 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Slovak Parliament speaker Richard Sulik said Monday his country needs to be ready to abandon the euro and switch to its former currency if the euro debt crisis hits further countries, APA reports quoting â€œAssociated Pressâ€.
Sulik said the current bailout system could work for Greece, Ireland and maybe Portugal, but could hardly rescue much large Spain or Italy.
Therefore, it was "high time for Slovakia to stop believing in what euro zone leaders say and prepare a Plan B. That is the reintroduction of the Slovak koruna."
In an opinion piece for the business daily Hospodarske Noviny, Sulik said Slovakia was too small to influence the how the 16-country eurozone is run, but added: "We must at least protect the values that people living in Slovakia have created."
Sulik declined to comment further Monday.
Slovakia has done well since joing the euro benefited from the euro with its economy expected to grow by 4.1 percent this year, more than any other eurozone member, according to the latest EU prediction.
Sulik heads the new Freedom and Solidarity party that is part of the four-party, center-right governing coalition created after June’s general elections.
Finance Minister Ivan Miklos said Monday that "Of course, you need to be ready for any option, but at the moment all what is necessary has to be done to keep the euro alive and strong."
Slovakia, which joined the euro on Jan. 1, 2009, was the only country to refuse to contribute to a bailout package for Greece earlier this year.
Economists say leaving the euro would be difficult and costly from a practical standpoint, involving changing software and cash registers as well as printing new money â€” the reverse of the monumental logistical effort involved in adopting the euro.
Additionally, some say it could provoke a financial crisis as investors sell assets ahead of the redenomination.