Bid to launch euro-cash early set to be rejected

Date: 14/01/1999

By Tim Jones

FINANCE ministers are set to reject a proposal from the Belgian government for more than €70 billion notes and coins to hit the streets nearly a year early, in March 2001.

Diplomats preparing for a meeting of treasury chiefs next Monday (18 January) say the plan outlined by Belgian Finance Minister Jean-Jacques Viseur has no chance of success.

Buoyed by the successful launch of the euro on the financial markets, Viseur and Belgian National Bank governor Alfons Verplaetse want to cut short the three-year transition period to the introduction of banknotes and coins.

“It is important if we can win time,” said Viseur. “It is not good to maintain an unclear situation over three years. I am afraid the dual use of currency will lead to a lax attitude towards the euro.”

Pitted against the Belgians are the majority of finance ministers and mint directors, who fear setting a deadline which cannot be met, and the European Central Bank, which believes introducing the money early would be illegal.