Euro change going to plan - EU central bank

The European Central Bank has said the euro changeover is going according to plan. In a statement yesterday, the bank said thorough preparations and the firm commitment of hundreds of thousands of people directly involved in the process have ensured the changeover is advancing on track.

The bank also provided some advice to make the changeover smoother.

"In order to contribute to a smooth changeover in the first few days of 2002, the public is asked to avoid making mixed payments - paying an amount partly in euros and partly in national currency.

"We encourage the public to make active use of the euro coins contained in the almost 200 million starter kits sold since December 14th," it said.

In the Netherlands, a few last-minute glitches have been reported. An automated cash machine in the province of Limburg issued three €10 notes to three customers after a wrong cash box was inserted.

The proprietor of a hotel in the town of Emmeloord said its cigarette machine had been dispensing change to customers in euro for the past week. But greater-than-expected buying in the festive period is the likely explanation, as the machine could have run out of guilders.

The Bank of Finland reported that the distribution of the euro was going well. "Front-loading of cash to banks and companies has proceeded more smoothly than the bank had estimated beforehand, and studies indicate that Finns are well informed on the basics of the euro changeover," it said yesterday. "Prospects are good for a smooth changeover." it added.

A Bank of Finland board member brushed off criticism from the European Commission, which has said Finland trails euro-zone peers in getting its automatic teller machines ready. He said plenty of cash would be available.

Instead of closing the country's ATMs ahead of January 1st to load them with euro, banks will keep them stocked with markka up to midnight on New Year's Eve, then close them briefly to instal euro and have more than 60 per cent of them dispensing the new currency by the end of Tuesday and the rest within a week.

Research in Greece shows that almost 75 per cent of its citizens view the changeover as the end of one era of Greek history.

The Greek drachma is considered the oldest currency in the world, having first appeared in the seventh century BC in Asia Minor.

Following a lengthy eclipse, it was chosen as the Greek national money on February 8th, 1833, after the country gained independence.