Slovakia to Join Eurozone on January 1st

Image via WikipediaOn January 1st the Slovak koruna will join the French Franc, the German Deutschmark and the Irish Punt in the history of Currencies as Slovakia will officially join the eurozone and begin to use the notes and coins as of January 1st. The fixed exchange rate is €1 = 30.1260SKK.

With Slovakia joining it will increase the Eurozone to 16 members of the EU. The number of people using the euro will increase by over 5 million. This will make travel and business between Slovakia and the other Eurozone members easier.

Under the accession treaties for Countries who acceded to the EU in 2004 and 2007 are compelled to join the Euro. Of the post 2004 member states, Slovenia was the first to join in 2007 with Malta and Cyprus following at the start of this year.

2010 will see no countries joining the Euro, but Estonia is aiming for a 2011 changeover. Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Latvia and Poland are all aiming for a 2012 date for joining the Euro. Poland will have a long road to the Euro as it must hold a referendum and change its Constitution and join ERM II in the first quarter of next year, it is looking unlikely.

Lithuania was hoping to join the Euro in 2007 but high inflation forced the Government to change its plans. Lithuania is currently hoping to join the Euro in 2013.


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