PODGORICA (Montenegro), September 12 (SeeNews) - Montenegro will aim to keep the euro as its national currency during its membership negotiations with the European Union, local media reported.

The government expects the European Commission to change some of the Maastricht criteria that are not applicable to Montenegro, such as the exchange-rate stability criterion, public broadcaster RTCG quoted an advisor to the central bank on financial stability, Milica Kilibarda, as saying on Monday.

The talks on Chapter 17 - Economic & Monetary Policy, which are expected to resolve the issue of the continued usage of the euro as Montenegro's official currency, are expected to start by the end of the year, Kilibarda said.

Montenegro's government expects to face upward inflationary pressure, deterioration of fiscal balances and growth of the grey economy if the country abandons the usage of the euro as its national currency, the European Commission said earlier.

Montenegro committed to putting efforts into fulfilling the criteria for joining the euro area, but does not expect to do so on the date of its EU accession, the Commission added.

Montenegro has started talks on 28 out of the 35 chapters of EU body of law and has provisionally closed negotiations on three, namely Chapter 30 - External Relations, Chapter 25 - Science & Research and Chapter 26 - Education & Culture.