The European Commission said that Lithuania had met all the criteria to enter the euro area on January 1, 2015. The EU executives gave kudos to Lithuania's "long-standing support for prudent fiscal policies and economic reforms" in its quest to meet the strict criteria for euro adoption. The small country of about three million people was able to curb inflation to 0.6% bearing in mind that the EU tolerates the 1.7% inflation. Besides, it has strong finances with a budget deficit of 2.1% well below the EU limit of 3.0 percent of Gross Domestic Product. The public debt did not exceed 39.4% of GDP in 2013. The Maastricht Treaty sets out a public debt ceiling should be below 60%. The economy is expected to grow 3.4% this year and 4.3% in 2015. So, the Baltic state is being robustly integrated into the world financial community. Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius said that given the situation on the Lithuanian state borders, joining the euro area "acquires even greater importance. It is one more step towards deeper economic, financial, and political national security." EU Economics Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn highlighted that Lithuania’s entrance to the euro area proves benefits belonging to the single economic and currency bloc. Rehn added he hoped the EU Council of Ministers would approve the recommendation next month. Thus, Lithuania is the EU's last remaining Baltic country to introduce the euro. For the reference, Estonia entered the euro area in 2011, Latvia – in early 2014. However, the European Commission does praise such countries as Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Sweden, Bulgaria, Romania, and Croatia. Brussels reached a verdict these countries are not ready yet to adopt the European single currency. The official statement reads that monetary legislation of only Lithuania and Croatia meets the EU requirements. As for the rest of the countries, legislation setting out functions of central banks has to be amended.