OREANDA-NEWS. February 12, 2010. European Central Bank (ECB) governing council member Ewald Nowotny said in a recent interview he saw good chances that Estonia would meet the necessary criteria for adopting the euro currency in 2011.

In the interview that appeared in the Saturday edition of the Austrian daily Wiener Zeitung, Nowotny said that new countries wishing to adopt the euro needed to fulfill strict criteria.

"This will be looked at very closely. I believe the chances that Estonia will fulfill the criteria can be seen as positive," Nowotny said when asked by the newspaper how realistic Estonia's euro adoption was for 2011.

Evaluation of Estonia's performance against the criteria will take place this spring and in case of a positive outcome Estonia would switch to the common currency from the start of 2011.