Polish President Lech Kaczynski criticized the government's handling of the economic crisis and warned against adoption of the euro, in a rare speech to parliament today, according to dpa. Poland's economic growth will slow or stop entirely, while the effects of the global economic crisis could be "very serious," Kaczynski said, in the first presidential speech of its kind in more than a decade. It would be "risky" to switch to the euro currency during a financial crisis, Kaczynski said referring to Tusk's plans to enter "ERM-2" - the preparatory stage to switching to the European single currency. Critics said Kaczynski's speech was a political move to bolster support for his party before next month's elections to the European Parliament. Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski said Poland's situation was "impressive" compared to other nations suffering the financial crisis. "We won't get wealthier in the way we wanted," Rostowski told parliament. "But let's be realistic. Let's compare what's going on in other countries." Kaczynski said "the people and institutions" responsible for Poland's economic growth did not "appreciate the seriousness of the situation," in a dig at political rival, Prime Minister Donald Tusk. But Tusk said when symptoms of the crisis first appeared, Poland's first step was to secure bank deposits, which built trust and made Poland's banks "clearly better off" than other crisis-hit countries. Tusk surprised many analysts by saying Poland would adopt the euro currency by 2012. However officials have said recently the date could be too ambitious in the midst of the financial crisis.
