Euro-induced inflation?

Thomas Fuster reports that Slovakia is likely to introduce the euro in January 2009 since it now fulfils the Maastricht criteria, but he points to the risk of inflation: "It's a source of concern that in the process of catching up economically and experiencing rapid growth, the poorer EU states have been able to control inflation thanks largely to the increasing value of their currencies. Once they introduce the single currency this option is no longer open to them. ... That those who want to protect Europe's currencies are giving this matter higher priority than a few years ago probably has to do with what has happened in Slovenia since the euro was introduced there in 2007: although Slovenia's per capita income is much higher than Slovakia's, its rate of inflation has accelerated to around double the level it is in other Eurozone countries."

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