So long, kuna?

As Poslovni Dnevnik reports on the 9th of October, 2017, the Croatian National Bank (HNB) has prepared a strategy for the introduction of the euro in Croatia, which includes in depth calculations of both the benefits and the possible risks of entering the eurozone. It is due to be published later this month.

The Euro Strategy will serve as a fundamental document for an open public debate on the introduction of the euro as Croatia's currency, which will be officially opened by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. The PM has already made it known that he is all for the introduction of the euro, which was followed by an official request for the Republic of Croatia to enter the ERM II exchange rate mechanism.

The ERM II is a bit like a proverbial waiting room in which a candidate is examined on all the necessary fronts before gaining the green light to begin using the euro as currency. After Slovakia, which went through this process back in 2005 and has been using the euro since 2009, Bulgaria officially applied for ERM II, but was rejected.

With the exception of the United Kingdom, any country that joins the European Union is legally obliged to introduce the euro as its main currency, but there is no specific time frame in which it must be done.

If the Croatian Government asks for entry into the ERM II mechanism, and if the European Commission can be persuaded to control the public debt and bring it down to 60% limit within a reasonable time, it is estimated that the euro could become Croatia's main currency by the year 2022 or 2023 at the earliest.

Translated from Poslovni.hr