FRANKFURT (AFP) — The switch from legacy currencies to the euro was completed in a month in Cyprus and Malta, the European Central Bank said Monday, with the single currency replacing half the pounds and liris on its first day.
Following a one-month dual circulation period, "the euro became the sole legal tender in Cyprus and Malta on February 1," an ECB statement said.
Owing to ample stocks of euro cash, "around half of the banknotes in circulation in both countries were euro banknotes by the end of the first day," the statement said.
"Euro counterfeiting has not been a matter for concern, and there were no major counterfeiting attacks during the cash changeover," it added.
Euro notes and coins were first introduced in 12 countries on January 1, 2002, three years after the single currency was first used in financial transactions.
Slovenia joined the eurozone in January 2007 and Cyprus and Malta one year later.
The euro area currently comprises around 320 million inhabitants and represents roughly 15 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP).
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