The European Union gives Final Approval to Croatia to Adopt the Euro Currency

BUSINESS WORLD

The Finance Ministers of the European Union have given Croatia final approval to adopt the euro single currency on January 1, 2023, and the euro will replace the Kuna of Croatia. Zbynek Stanjura, finance minister of the Czech Republic, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, said he would like to congratulate his counterpart and the whole of Croatia for becoming the 20th country to join the euro currency.

It is the first expansion of the currency bloc in around eight years, just as the euro has decreased to its lowest level against the US dollar in 20 years. The previous member country of the European Union to join the European single-currency area was Lithuania in 2015.

In the European Union, adopting the euro will offer economic benefits stemming from deep financial ties with the other members of the currency block and from the monetary authority of the European Central Bank.

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The bank also intends to raise interest rates for the first time in 11 years in order to combat of 8.6 percent inflation. Tangibly, it means that any of the current 340 million inhabitants of the Eurozone who visit Croatia will not need to exchange their cash for Kuna. The changes come as the exchange rate of the euro very briefly touched one dollar for the first time in 20 years before recovering.