Tallinn  - Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip said Thursday that the Baltic state could adopt the euro as its national currency by the middle of next year.

"It is possible that Estonia will request an extraordinary assessment from the European Commission and European Central Bank (ECB) this year," Ansip told a news conference in the Estonian capital, Tallinn.

"The purpose of requesting the assessment is so we could join the eurozone from July 1, 2010," he said.

Until now, Ansip has identified 2011 as the target date for Estonia to replace its indigenous currency, the kroon, with the euro.

All of the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania originally intended to adopt the euro in 2004 but problems controlling inflation stymied their chances when all other criteria had been met.

While Latvia and Lithuania still have problems with inflation, Estonia has seen a sharp drop in its inflation levels in recent months, raising hopes that it is back on track to enter the eurozone.

"The possibility of meeting the inflation criterion by October is increasing every day," Ansip said.

The new date comes less than a day after the deputy governor of the Estonian central bank, Marten Ross, said Estonia would be "among the first countries to exit the current economic crisis."

"Adoption of the euro would strongly contribute to this," Ross said. (dpa)