Kaczynski Says No to Euro Before Poland Reaches German Wealth

(Bloomberg) -- Poland won’t adopt the euro before its economic wealth reaches the level of Germany, ruling party Chairman Jaroslaw Kaczynski said Saturday, accusing the opposition of a push to abandon the zloty.

Poland’s ruling populists have framed opponents as advocates of a quick euro adoption as they run neck-and-neck in the competition for seats in next month’s European Parliament elections and a general ballot in the fall. They have also unveiled an $11 billion stimulus program and accused the opposition of promoting what they call a danger in the form of gay rights.

“We say no to the euro, we say no to European prices,” Kaczynski told a party convention in the eastern town of Lublin. “The EU membership treaty doesn’t specify the date of euro adoption, some day we’ll do it, but this will happen when our level of wealth comes close to that of Germany.”

Polls show that a majority of Poles oppose adopting the euro amid concerns it would fuel higher prices of goods. While Civic Platform, the biggest opposition party, favors joining the Eurozone, it said it would seek “a wide national consensus” for such a decision.

To contact the reporter on this story: Marek Strzelecki in Warsaw at mstrzelecki1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrea Dudik at adudik@bloomberg.net, Paul Jarvis, Peter Laca

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