Rounding down?

Sir,

The magnificent gesture of many companies promising to ‘round down’ the prices of their products, once the dreaded euro has been adopted, is noble indeed. However, it is also somewhat misleading, since so many of their products will have undergone much subtle ‘rounding up’ in the meantime. So much so, that by the time of the adoption of the new currency, they will have increased sufficiently to nullify the magnanimous financial sacrifices proposed by these same public spirited companies. No amount of policing or threats of prosecution by government agencies will make the slightest difference.

John Waterhouse, Paphos

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.