Speaking to reporters this week, Mateusz Morawiecki opposed introducing the common currency in the foreseeable future, claiming that its recent adoption by Croatia caused huge price hikes in shops.
Croatia formally adopted the European Union's official currency with effect from January 1, thus becoming the 20th country to switch from its national currency to the euro.
Commenting on the Balkan country’s move, Morawiecki argued that a similar decision for Poland would bring inflation, which is already above 17 percent, to even higher levels, making the cost of living unbearable for Poles.
He maintained that Croatia was seeing “chaos” and prices reaching exorbitant levels.
“According to reports by some Polish media … prices have spiked by up to 70-80 percent in just one week," Morawiecki was quoted as saying by the PAP news agency on Tuesday.
“That inflationary chaos in Croatia should serve as a warning for us,” Morawiecki cautioned.
His statements came on the heels of an opinion poll in which Poles were asked if their country should adopt the euro to replace the Polish zloty.
Almost half of those surveyed replied “definitely not,” while 15 percent said “rather not.”
Meanwhile, 15 percent of respondents said “yes, definitely" and a further 10 percent said “yes, on the whole.”
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Morawiecki sought to dismiss claims by the opposition that his government was largely responsible for high inflation, arguing that rising prices were the result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Anyone with common sense and their own mind knows well that inflation came to us from the outside," he said. "It was imported to Poland and is linked to the war in Ukraine."
Under their accession treaties, countries that make up the 27-member EU are formally committed to adopting the common currency at some point but there is no deadline.
Poland has not set a date for joining the euro.
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Source: PAP
Click on the audio player above for a report by Radio Poland's Michał Owczarek.