EURO-DENOMINATED ACCOUNTS CAN BE OPENED IN CROATIA AS OF 1 JAN

ZAGREB, Jan 1 (Hina)- As of Friday, January 1, individuals and corporate bodies can open accounts denominated in the euro with Croatian banks, the Croatian Central Bank (HNB) has reported. The euro was launched at midnight in eleven EU member-states - Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Germany, Portugal and Spain. These are countries with which Croatia is conducting most of financial transactions and foreign trade. Owners of bank accounts can freely choose when they will convert their accounts denominated in national currencies of above mentioned Monetary Union member-states into the euro during the three-year transitional period. Until 2002, the euro will be used only for non-cash transactions. The introduction of the euro will not change the value of the deposits in the Monetary Union member-states' national currencies. Further information about the impact of the euro's introduction on the transactions of Croatian banks can be on the web site of the Croatian Central Bank (www.hnb.hr.), the HNB said.