European Central Bank: Lithuania

Lithuania: Approval by the European Parliaments economic and monetary affairs committee in Brussels today means Lithuania remains on course for final consent in July to join the bloc on Jan. 1, according to Bloomberg. Lithuania would become the last of the three formerly Soviet Baltic states to become a euro member after Estonia adopted the currency in 2011 and Latvia joined in January this year. It is set to be given final approval by EU finance ministers after endorsement by the EUs full parliament and reports from the European Commission and European Central Bank and European lawmakers endorsed Lithuania s bid to adopt the euro, with the ex-Soviet republic scheduled to become the 19th member of the single currency next year. The country is forecast to meet the single currencys membership criteria, which demonstrates the extraordinary determination of the Lithuanian government to adopt the euro as quickly as possible, Werner Langen, a German member who is spearheading the issue in the European Unions 28-nation parliament, said in a statement. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.