January 17 (SeeNews) - Prices in Croatia will be displayed in both kuna and euro starting September 5 as part of preparations for joining the euro area, which the government hopes will take place in January 2023, prime minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Monday.
Until the end of 2023, or 16 months overall, the prices will be displayed in both currencies in order to raise public awareness of the common European currency before its official adoption, Plenkovic told a news conference, according to a video file published by TV broadcaster RTL.
“We want this process to be simple and cost-free for the citizens,” he added during the news conference at which he presented a draft act for the planned switchover.
As of January 1 next year, all individuals will be able to exchange kuna notes free of charge at commercial banks, postal offices and state-owned financial agency Fina, while all of the kuna deposits will be converted automatically into euro, Plenkovic said and called individuals who keep kuna in cash at home to deposit the currency with commercial banks.
Croatia is likely to join the euro area with the exchange rate of 7.53 kuna per euro set by the European Central Bank (ECB) when it accepted the Croatian currency to the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM II) in 2020, the country's central bank governor Boris Vujcic said last year.
The Adriatic country of 3.89 million people joined the European Union in July 2013.