Iceland determined to join euro once it meets criteria

ICELAND is determined to join the euro as soon as it meets the bloc’s criteria for the currency switch, foreign minister Ossur Skarphedinsson said.

The island, where krona losses helped generate a trade surplus that carried the economy out of its 2008 banking meltdown, will target the switch once it gains European Union membership, Skarphedinsson said.

Iceland is underlining its commitment to the euro as European finance ministers meet in Brussels for the latest round of talks to tackle the currency bloc’s debt crisis. Euro-sceptic parties in some of the region’s AAA-rated nations, including France and Finland, have won support as voters balk at the prospect of funding more bailouts that many investors say may fail to prevent defaults.