Malta aims to adopt euro in 2008, premier says

0 Comments | AFP, April, 2005

VALLETTA (AFP) — Malta hopes to switch its currency from the lira to the euro in 2008, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said in Valletta.

The European Union said Friday that the Mediterranean archipelago would enter the European Exchange Mechanism (ERM II) on Monday, with Cyprus and Latvia, as a first step to the planned adoption of the single European currency.

Gonzi told reporters the decision by the EU to accept Malta into ERM II was a vote of confidence that its economic policy was bearing results.

"We are moving on a serious plan which will take us to our planned aims and we are getting results. This is a certificate of encouragement," Gonzi said as he unveiled his government's strategy on ERM II membership. The Maltese lira has been fixed at 0.4293 to the...