Euro calculators for every household

THE government is to buy 250,000 special calculators that will help consumers in the transition to the euro.

Finance Minister Michalis Sarris said yesterday that banks would also be likely to hand out the special calculators, called euro converters, which give an instant conversion from the Cyprus pound to the euro.

“Our plan is to buy 250,000 of these,” Sarris told reporters.

When Ireland joined the euro, all households received one of the special calculators, which do all the work without consumers having to know the exchange rate.

The Cyprus pound is likely to be fixed to the euro by July this year after Brussels decides if the island is ready to join the eurozone from January 1 next year.

Sarris said the prognosis was positive.

Next week, the government will forward its application to the European Commission and the European Central Bank for the preparation of an extraordinary convergence report concerning the adoption of the euro.

Sarris said that after discussions on the report in April and May, there would be a final decision after approval by European Finance Ministers and then EU heads of government

“They know Cyprus fulfills the criteria and are looking positively on Cyprus entry to the eurozone,” he said.

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.