Cyprus starts pricing in both euros and pounds from today
NICOSIA (Reuters) – Cyprus is well prepared to adopt the euro and will start setting prices in euros and pounds today, the island’s finance minister said yesterday. «Double pricing will be applied accross the island,» Finance Minister Michalis Sarris told reporters. Earlier in the year, the Cyprus government stepped up a campaign to ease fears of profiteering from the switch to the euro as consumer groups were getting complaints about higher prices before the January 1 changeover. The eastern Mediterranean island is to adopt the euro next year, along with Malta. Surveys show that two-thirds of Cypriots worry about profiteering from the changeover. Dual pricing in pounds and euros will be compulsory from September 1. Andreas Charalambous, senior economist at the Finance Ministry warned that «offenders can be fined with up to 100,000 pounds.» The finance minister tried to sooth consumers’ unease over reportedly unjustified price increases recently. «Inflation is there whether a new currency is introduced or not,» Sarris said. «Cyprus is dependent on raw material and energy imports and therefore it would be unrealistic not to have inflation.»
