(STOCKHOLM) - Swedes have grown increasingly favourable to swapping their crisis-hit krona for the euro, a poll published Monday showed, indicating however that most people here still support the Swedish currency.

The poll, published by the Dagens Nyheter daily, showed that 44 percent of the 1,006 people questioned wanted Sweden to join the eurozone, up from 34.6 percent in a similar poll published in May.

Forty-eight percent meanwhile said they preferred to stick with the krona, which has significantly depreciated against the euro and the dollar in recent months, down from 51.7 percent in the May poll.

Seven percent of the people questioned for Monday's survey, which was conducted by Dagens Nyheter and the Synovate polling institute between November 17 and 20, said they remained undecided on the issue.

Sweden, a country of about nine million inhabitants, is a European Union member, but rejected joining the eurozone in a referendum in September 2003.

According to observers, the increased interest in adopting the euro is closely linked to the dwindling krona, which has come under fierce pressure as investors dump it in favour of bigger and safer currencies.

At the beginning of January, it took 9.4 kronor to buy one euro. On Monday one euro cost 10.4 kronor.

"People see that the krona has sunk in value lately. This is the reality. People don't look at factors like how a weaker krona can be good for Swedish exports," Mikael Gilljam, a political scientist at the University of Gothenburg, told Dagens Nyheter.

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