Croatia has sent a letter of intent to Brussels expressing its readiness to join the eurozone.

“I think that our arguments and key areas in which we will undertake measures to implement our strategy to introduce the euro were well received,” said Prime Minister Andrej Plenković.

Mr Plenković informed the president of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi, the president of the Eurogroup Mario Centeno and the president of the Eurogroup Working Group Hans Vijbrie about Croatia’s next steps, namely a letter of intent to enter the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM II), together with the relevant action plan.

“It is important that we make reforms in areas that we have identified. That is bank supervision, better state administration and statistics-related issues. All those measures were well received and I expect that we will come across a positive reaction from our partners,” Mr Plenkovic explained, adding that the country expects to join the eurozone in 2023 at the earliest.