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Estonia to join Eurozone from 2011

08 June 2010 08:58 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA-Economics. Estonia is set to become the latest member of the eurozone and to adopt the euro as its currency after finance ministers of member states gave their approval on Monday, The Epoch Times reported.

Estonia will become the 17th member of the eurozone when it adopts the currency formally on January 1, 2011.

Luxembourg Prime Minister, Jean-Claude Juncker, chairing the meeting of finance ministers, told reporters that Estonia has met all criteria to adopt the euro currency and has committed to tough fiscal policies and structural reform.

Earlier, the European Central Bank had raised concerns over the countryâ€™s ability to control inflation. The Baltic state with a population of 1.4 million people is expected to be the last country for the next few years to adopt the currency, as other candidates such as Poland and the Czech Republic do not currently meet the criteria.

The expansion of the eurozone comes despite Greeceâ€™s debt crisis which has damaged the euro currency.