Greek Euro Yearning Pays Off

Greece has triumphantly entered the European Monetary Union, the demanding financial arm of the EU.

Despite dreary predictions by some economists, Greece has successfully met the stringent financial standards required for entry into the monetary union, squashing inflation and working tirelessly to bring the deficit within the guidelines for membership.

Prime Minister Simitis, in an exclusive interview with the Athens News Agency, referred to the successful Greek entry as a "conquest", one which will have far-reaching benefits for Greece. U.S. President Clinton, who has always courted the Greek-American segment of the population, expressed his congratulations, as did other world leaders.

A high initial valuing of the drachma against the Euro has also put smiles on Athenian business leaders.

So say goodbye to the drachma, ancient tender of Hellas, and hello to the euro, sometimes criticized as a stable but boringly anonymous currency. Greek money has been graced with works of art featuring philosophers, poets, and world-changing individuals like Alexander the Great for thousands of years. If you collect coins from your journeys, this year might be the time to grab a handful. Coin collectors and numismatists are outraged at the loss of the colorful Greek currency, while bankers and financial experts prefer the bland, stable Euro.

What will the change mean for the traveler? While the new currency is not slated to go into circulation until 2002, Greece has made it clear that they expect the changeover to occur much more quickly than that. Expect more and more prices to be listed in Euros rather than in drachmas, but as several major tourist nations (the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom) have their own currencies, prices will continue to be listed in those moneys as well.

The drachma itself has always suffered from volatility against world currencies, resulting in some periods of extraordinarily good deals for travelers, usually in response to some unfortunate incident for Greece. These exploitative bargains will dry up, but Greece will remain an excellent value.

The opening exchange rate was set at 345 drachmas against the Euro, compared to 351 against the US dollar.

Related Links:

Greek Banks on the Worldwide Web
Here's a listing of Greek banks with Net presences, from IFB Gottingen. Mostly general info, but some listings include bank locations.

International Banks in Athens
From Aegean, a very thorough list of bank locations in Athens.

Money Matters
From Ellada, some information about money in Greece. Includes a currency converter.

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