Smoke From the 'Burning' Eurozone Scares Away Poland's Central Bank

Marek Belka says it is "not safe" to join the currency bloc, which suffers from a "vicious circle" based on a lack of solid fiscal integration.

Marek Belka, Poland's former Prime Minister who currently serves as the governor of its National Bank, said that Poland wants to steer clear of the Eurozone, despite being obliged to join the single currency as part of its membership of the European Union, which it joined in 2004.

"You shouldn’t rush when there is still smoke coming from a house that was burning. It is simply not safe to do so."

"As long as the eurozone has problems with some of its own members, don’t expect us to be enthusiastic about joining."

Belka, who is also a former economist for the IMF, told the British press of his concerns in an interview on Saturday.

Belka said the Eurozone suffers from a "little bit of a vicious circle," due to the divergence among member economies. 

Though it would not be problem to build some kind of fiscal union among the northern economies of the Eurozone, he warned that "as long as we have problems in some countries, it's more difficult to build up a solid foundation for the real fiscal union in the eurozone."  

Head of the National Bank of Poland Marek Belka looks on during an international conference on integrated and stable Europe organized by the National Bank of Poland in Warsaw, Poland

© AP Photo / Alik Keplicz

In order to become more attractive to the Polish economy, Belka recommended that the eurozone build up a solid foundation for its currency, "including elements of fiscal union and common economic policy."

When asked about the Greek debt crisis, Belka said the situation contributed to his lack of confidence in the single currency. The National Bank governor called the deal which was recently reached between Greece and its creditors a "temporary respite but not a solution," and said that what he preferred to call a "debt re-profiling" would be necessary for Greece sooner or later.