(WARSAW) - Poland will stick to its target of adopting the euro by 2012, a goal which will help mark its economic health despite the global financial crisis, Finance Minister Jan Rostowski said Thursday.

"Our goal is ambitious, but realistic," Rostowski told lawmakers as he presented the liberal government's draft 2009 budget to parliament.

Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk had announced for the first time in mid-September that Poland wanted to adopt the euro in 2012.

Before joining the eurozone, would-be members must spend at least two years in the exchange-rate mechanism known as ERM-2 which tests the stability of their national currency.

Rostowski said that Poland could enter the ERM-2 in mid-2009 to put its currency, the zloty, to the test.

"In mid-2011 we will ask the European Commission to confirm our readiness to join the eurozone and to fix the final exchange rate between the zloty and the euro," he added.

"I am convinced that on January 1, 2012, the official switch to the new currency will take place," he said.

Poland joined the European Union in 2004 along with nine other nations, mostly from the former communist bloc.

Of those countries, Slovenia began using the euro in 2007 and Cyprus and Malta adopted the common currency this year. Next year, Slovakia is set to become the 16th member of the 27-nation EU to adopt the euro.

Rostowski added that the government's euro drive was part of a "strategy aiming to seize the opportunity created, paradoxically, by the international financial situation".

Reaffirming Poland's 2012 target amidst global market turbulence can only mean a "double bonus" for the country, which is enjoying an economic boom, he said.

"Firstly, it will allow us to mark out the exceptionally robust state of the Polish economy compared with those of other countries and, secondly, it will underline the determination of the government, which will help reduce the impact of the difficult external economic situation," he explained.

Over recent days, Rostowski and other Polish government ministers have given repeated assurances about Poland's financial health, with their stance backed by most analysts.

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