RIGA, February 15 (RIA Novosti) – President Andris Berzins has signed into law a bill paving the way for Latvia to adopt the Euro from January 1, 2014, the presidential press office reported on Friday.
Latvia’s Sejm (parliament) approved the bill in a final reading on January 31, 2013.
For the first two weeks after the euro’s introduction from January 1, 2014, Latvia’s currency, the lat, will circulate simultaneously with the euro while change from payments in lats will be given in euros.
ATMs will stop dispensing lats from the day of the euro’s introduction. Banks will exchange lats for euros for six months from the euro’s introduction. Currency exchange at Latvia’s Central Bank will have no time or volume limits.
The prices of goods and services will be indicated in lats and euros for the first three months up to the country’s transition to the euro and for six months thereafter.
A recent survey conducted by TNS pollster showed over 63 percent of Latvians disapproved of the euro’s introduction, amid mounting problems in the eurozone.