VILNIUS: Lithuania's central bank said on Tuesday it was confident the Baltic country will meet all requirements for joining the euro zone in 2015 after marginally lowering its inflation forecast for this year.
Lithuania hopes to adopt the euro and join its Baltic neighbours Estonia, a current member, and Latvia, which is set to enter the bloc next year. To adopt the euro, a country has to meet economic targets on debt, budget deficits, inflation and long-term interest rates.
"We are absolutely convinced that we will meet all criteria for euro membership in 2015, including the public deficit criteria," Ruta Rodzko, head of economic and financial stability at the central bank, told Reuters.
The Lithuanian central bank said it expected inflation of 1.3 percent this year compared the 1.4 percent forecast earlier. It kept unchanged an outlook for inflation to edge up to 1.5 percent next year.
The inflation criteria is shifting due to price changes in the euro zone, but the bank said it expected the target for joining the euro zone to be around 2 percent early next year.
The bank is also forecasting a public deficit of 2.9 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) this year, just below the membership criteria of 3 percent.
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