The euro zone has "no future" without structural reforms, the head of the Bank of Lithuania told CNBC on Thursday, ahead of his country's accession to the single currency area next January.
Governor Vitas Vasiliaus said joining the single currency zone remained a "very logical next step" for Lithuania, but that member countries must continue reforming their economies.
"Without structural reforms we will have no future. Governments have to make actions to reform their economies and only in that way can you survive and make progress," he told CNBC on Thursday morning.
"Our example, the example of the Baltics, showed it."
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Lithuania's economy grew by 3.3 percent last year, continuing its recovery after a staggering 14.8 percent decline in 2009.
Like neighboring Latvia, the country has undertaken an aggressive drive to reduce its budget deficit, slashing public spending and raising taxes.
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In June, the European Commission announced that Lithuania was ready to become the 19th member of the euro zone. It will follow in the footsteps of its Baltic neighbors, as Estonia switched to the euro in 2011 and Latvia joined this year.
—By CNBC's Katy Barnato
