Lithuania’s Parliament approved a scenario of the country’s planned switch to the euro at the start of next year.
The law sets out practical issues involved in the changeover to the single currency, including currency exchange, dual display of prices, the national currency withdrawal, and others.
The Seimas passed the Law on Euro Adoption in Lithuania by a vote of 87 to seven, with 13 abstentions. In particular, Remigijus Ačas from the parliamentary party Order and Justice thinks that the euro introduction would be too costly for the economy.
According to Lithuania’s Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius, the euro adoption is supposed to reinforce the country’s security. Andrius Kubilius, the leader of the conservative party Homeland Union, stated that coins would bear the Lithuanian symbols.
The European Commission is expected to announce in June if it will give Lithuania the green light to join the euro area in 2015. Besides, the European Council will announce the exchange rate of the national currency versus the euro. It is likely to remain at the current level, 3.4528 lit versus 1 euro. The central Bank of Lithuania will exchange any amount in lit for euros free of charge for an indefinite period of time. The period of mandatory dual display of prices in lit and euros will start six months prior to the changeover and will continue for another six months after it. Thus, price tags both in lit and euros will be used until mid-2015.
In case the law is violated, individuals will face a warning whereas heads of legal entities will face a hefty fine in the amount up to 1,000 lit.
For the reference, Lithuania is the last of the Baltic states to introduce the euro. Estonia entered the eurozone on January 1, 2011. Latvia switched to the European single currency on January 1, 2014.
