Euro
Euro used for 75% of payments
EUROPE - The euro is now being used for nearly three quarters of cash payments in the 12-nation single currency zone, according to the European Commission.
Ireland's euro transition outpaces EU
IRELAND - Ireland is outpacing other euro-zone countries in the euro changeover with the number of Irish pounds in circulation falling almost twice as fast as other national currencies, reports an Irish newspaper.
New euros brings old coin windfall for beggars
GERMANY - The euro's launch may be causing headaches for cashiers and heartache for nationalists around Europe, but the single currency has dumped windfall profits into the laps of an unsuspecting group: beggars.
Joint Press Conference on the euro introduction
PRESS CONFERENCE - Joint press conference given by the EU Presidency, the European Central Bank, and the European Commission on the introduction of the euro banknotes and coins, Frankfurt am Main, 3 January 2002.
ECB Press Release
PRESS RELEASE - Update on the euro cash changeover, 7 January 2002.
China mulls boosting euro reserves
CHINA - Just as the initial euphoria from the introduction of notes and coins wears off, the euro has received a boost from news that China could be buying more euros to reduce its reliance on the dollar.
ECB - ATM conversion to euro now finalised
GERMANY - The conversion of automated teller machines, or ATMs, is now finalised, the European Central Bank said Monday in an update on the euro cash changeover.
ECB interest rates unchanged
GERMANY - As widely expected the European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged with officials largely focused this week on the launch of euro notes and coins.
Euro changeover "better than expected"
GERMANY - The European Central Bank reported on Wednesday that the launch of euro cash was progressing smoothly despite exceptionally high demand for the new notes. "The euro cash changeover is going smoothly, even better than we had expected," said ECB…
Fears that euro ATMs will run dry
UK - The stock of euro notes in banks' cash machines is in danger of running out in the first weeks of the new currency's launch on 1 January, bankers have warned.
Euro notes seek forgery protection
EUROPE - Two of Europe's biggest chip developers may be working with the European Central Bank (ECB) to include tiny radio transceivers in high-value euro banknotes.
5m euros are stolen in three months
EUROPE - Armed gangs and other criminals have stolen Euros 5m ( £3.1m) in the three months since minting and printing of euro notes and coins began, and the situation is set to worsen, European police have warned.
Monetary Policy Transmission in the Euro Area
CONFERENCE - Monetary Policy Transmission in the Euro Area, at the ECB (by invitation only), 18-19 December 2001.
Euro notes can be washed - But not at 90 Celsius
ARTICLE - If you wash your euro notes, make sure you don't do so at 90 degrees Celsius.
Euro launch reaches its final phase
ARTICLE - Securitas GmbH, a German armoured-car company, has suffered only a few mishaps since it began hauling the new euro cash in September. Some workers threw out their backs lugging the 20-kilo sacks of coins. Others accidentally dropped the heavy…
Germans snap up euro kits
GERMANY - Euro coins have gone on sale in Germany, accompanied by celebrations in several major cities.
Euro launch boon for US tourists
US - In more normal times, American interest in the introduction of the euro currency might spark a fair amount of attention.
Euro should rise, ECB has no leadership dilemma
GERMANY - The euro's weakness on foreign exchange markets is attributable partly to the fact that the single European currency is young, German Finance Minister Hans Eichel told a newspaper Thursday.
ECB Working Paper
RESEARCH - ECB Working Paper titled 'Some stylised facts on the euro area business cycle' by Anna-Maria Agresti and Benoit Mojon, December 2001.
IMF Koehler says political unity crucial to euro
US - International Monetary Fund Managing Director Horst Koehler said Friday that "sorting out" to process of political integration in Europe will be key to reviving a persistently weak euro.
First euro coins to be rolled out today
NETHERLANDS - Preparations for the changeover to euro notes and coins take a key psychological step forward today as citizens of France, Ireland and the Netherlands become the first in the eurozone to get their hands on the new euro coins.
Speech by Governor of the National Bank of Belgium
SPEECH - Speech by Guy Quaden, Governor of the National Bank of Belgium in Ottawa, 30 November. In the speech titled 'The Monetary Policy of the European Central Bank and the Economic outlook in the Euro Area' Guy Quaden said that the introduction of…
Speech by Wim Duisenberg, President of the ECB
SPEECH - Speech by Dr. Willem F. Duisenberg, President of the European Central Bank. In the speech titled 'Current fiscal and monetary policy issues in the euro area' Wim Duisenberg repeated that exerting political pressure on the central bank would…
Profits deal means euro will not be backed by gold
SPECIAL CBNET REPORT - One result of the deal to distribute the profits of the euro is that the euro will be an almost entirely paper-backed currency.