Jun 19, 2006

Euro for Slovenia in 2007

In Brussels last week the European Commission took decisions on both Slovenia's and Lithuania's applications to adopt the euro as their official currency from next year. Lithuania's application was refused as their inflation rate is still too high to meet the criteria; but Slovenia's got the green light to change tolars to euros from 1 January 2007.

While I still think it's a pity when the excitement of a new currency and new coins is lost from crossing a border, it's certainly a lot easier. Much of Western Europe already operates on the euro and that means travelers can compare prices more easily, don't lose out so often on exchange rates and don't get left with such a heavy pocket of useless coins at the end of their trip. The future for Eastern Europe looks similar. In any case, if you need Slovenian tolars for your coin collection, you'd better get in quick.