Slovenia makes euro its currency
It became the first of the ex-communist nations of central and eastern Europe to switch over.
LJUBLJANA, Slovenia - Fatima Sehic frowned as she fingered some shiny new euros - Slovenia's currency beginning yesterday - in her wrinkled hand. It's all a bit too much for the 93-year-old, who will have to get used to the country's sixth currency in her lifetime.
"I can't differentiate between these little coins," she said.
The tiny alpine country became the 13th nation to use the pan-European currency, a switch Prime Minister Janez Jansa called the "biggest national achievement" since Slovenia joined the European Union in 2004. Slovenia becomes the first of the former communist nations of central and eastern Europe to adopt the euro.
The Slovene tolar and the euro will be in dual use for only 14 days; starting Jan. 15, the euro will be the only legal tender. A recent EU survey showed that more than two-thirds of Slovenes were happy to adopt the euro; many said they saw it as further proof they were part of mainstream Europe.
But some are also sentimental about the tolars, introduced when the country declared independence in 1991. "I'll definitely keep some of them - they're a piece of history," said Alenka Posavec, 54, a farmer.
"Slovene feelings about the tolar are nostalgic and highly positive," said Niko Tos, a sociologist who runs the survey Politbarometer. For years, the survey has shown that Slovenes trust the tolar more than their government or the church. Luckily, the euro also enjoys high confidence.
Slovenes will have to get used to coins that have real value. About 240 tolars equal 1 euro - and since there are Slovene coins as small as a tenth of a tolar, it can easily take a fistful of coins to buy a loaf of bread. The smallest euro denomination, in contrast, is 1 euro cent, or 2.4 tolars.
The country of two million, formerly a part of the defunct nation of Yugoslavia, is alone among the 10 newcomers that joined the European bloc in 2004 to have fulfilled the rigorous economic criteria needed to join the euro zone.
Only 20 years ago, Slovenia was a drab communist country with annual inflation of up to 1,500 percent; now inflation is 1.9 percent, lower than Germany's. Its economic growth was 4 percent last year, well above the EU's average of 1.4 percent.
The Slovene formula?
Maja Bednas, a deputy director of the Office for Macroeconomic Analysis, said long-term economic stability - achieved by gradual introduction of reforms rather than radical changes - and coordination between the government and the Central Bank had kept inflation in check.
The success is not entirely unexpected. Even under communism, Slovenia had a penchant for market economics and workaholic habits, and has always been the most prosperous of the former Yugoslav republics.
In contrast, uncontrolled deficits and rising inflation have prevented the nine other new EU members from joining the euro zone.
To make the changeover smoother, the euro value has been tagged to all prices in Slovenia for nearly two years. And each household has received a detailed instruction manual about the switch. But behind the fanfare, Slovenes worry whether rounding off prices to their euro amount will make everything more expensive.
The Consumers' Association recently published a blacklist of retailers and services that had already raised prices: Potato prices in one store jumped 54 percent; some postal services and parking in downtown Ljubljana doubled in price; dental X-rays in a clinic went up 85 percent. Even a monthly charge for a grave was 10 percent higher, the list showed.
"Avoid those shops and services and protest loudly," the association advised consumers in an ad published in all newspapers. Prime Minister Jansa promised to closely monitor price inreases.
To preserve its identity in the uniform euro zone, Slovenia exercised its right to customize the euro coins it mints in the country, decorating them with writers, the country's highest mountain, and other national symbols.
Who Uses the Euro
The euro is now the currency in these 13 European Union nations:
Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain.
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