Economy of Greece - Currency

Currency

Between 1832 and 2002 the currency of Greece was the Drachma. After having signed the Maastricht Treaty, Greece applied to join the Eurozone. The two main criteria to join the Euro currency were, that the EU country upon application time, was not allowed to exceed a public deficit of -3.0% of GDP and the debt burden should show a declining trend if it was above 60% of GDP. Greece managed to comply with the strict criteria, after having submitted its 1999 annual public account. On 1 January 2001, Greece officially joined the Eurozone, with the adoption of the Euro at the fixed exchange rate ₯340.75 to €1. In 2001 the Euro however only existed electronically, so the physical exchange from Drachma to Euro only happened on 1 January 2002. This was followed by a ten-year period for eligible exchange of drachma to Euro, which ended on 1 March 2012.

Prior to the adoption of the Euro, the majority of Greek people had a positive view of the new currency (64%). In February and June 2005 however this number fell considerably, to only 26% and 20% respectively. Since 2010 the number has risen again, and a survey in September 2011 showed that 63% of Greeks had a positive view of the Euro.