Dual pricing comes to an end

DUAL PRICING in euros and pounds has officially ended as a legal requirement from January 1, one year after the adoption of the single currency in Cyprus.

The co-ordinator of the Euro Adoption Campaign at the Finance Ministry Andreas Charalambous said yesterday that: “since January 1, dual pricing is not mandatory and the Ministry does not encourage businesses to continue with it.”

He said the experience of other countries showed that having the price only in euros was the right thing to do “to give the message that now we must think exclusively in euros”.

He added that dual pricing had been a very important measure in the campaign for adopting the euro, which helped the public to familiarise themselves with the values of the euro during its successful adoption.

“From the kick-off, the objective was to maintain dual pricing for a relatively limited period of one year, so that after people became familiar with the euro, prices would only be indicated euros, which is our official currency,” he said.

Asked whether Cypriots were sufficiently familiar with the euro, Charalambous said that businesses and the general public had quickly familiarised themselves with the currency and that while some still thought in Cyprus pounds, in general most people were now comfortable with the euro.

Charalambous said that in many other countries, dual pricing had ended even up to six or nine months earlier.

“The objective had been achieved and there is no further legislative requirement for dual pricing.”