''Birth pangs of the euro''

sept 2001 was an interesting month!!.....................From Sept. 2001 &  FrontLine

''SEPTEMBER 1, 2001 was a historic day for Europe. Thousands of tonnes of banknotes and coins of the new European common currency, the euro, were delivered to the central banks of 12 European countries for circulation as legal tender.''

''The euro, which will shortly replace the existing national currencies of 300 million Europeans, was unveiled in Frankfurt by Wim Duisenberg, President of the European Central Bank (ECB), who described the occasion as "a moment when the flow of history is present". He said: "It required much insight, understanding and determination to convince the different countries of Europe that their place in an increasingly interdependent world could only be assured by a single currency which promoted greater commerce both among themselves and with the the rest of the world."

Since January 1999, when the euro has existed as an electronic currency, it has lost 30 per cent of its value against the U.S. dollar. It is hoped that its use as legal tender would help regain confidence in it and boost its standing in the currency markets. Europe had hoped that the euro would challenge the U.S. dollar and that businesses in other countries would hold their assets in euros. But a strong U.S. economy, at least prior to the recent slowdown, and the relative weakness of the European economies, with problems for the German economy in particular over the last few years, caused the euro to fall.

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