The German Finance Minister, Mr Theo Waigel, has dismissed a growing chorus of eurosceptics calling for a delay of Europe's planned single currency and said he was confident enough countries would qualify to launch the euro.

In an interview with the economic daily Handelsblatt newspaper published yesterday, Mr Waigel said he took the concerns of German citizens very seriously but he believed the euro would strengthen Europe.

"It makes no sense to philosophise about a delay of European monetary union," Mr Waigel told Handelsblatt, adding that European Union members seeking to join the single currency had already achieved significant economic convergence.

"I presume that a sufficiently large number of countries will fulfill the Maastricht Treaty criteria. Then European monetary union can begin on January 1st, 1999," he said.

A growing number of academics and politicians have sharply criticised what they call Europe's reckless lunge into a single currency before creating the proper conditions to ensure that the new currency will be lastingly stable.

But Mr Waigel dismissed the concerns, saying the framework for a strong euro had been established.

"There is no cause for fears about stability," he said.