NECC reports smooth changeover

The euro conversion process is running smoothly except for a few minor hitches which the National Euro Conversion Committee (NECC) is seeing to, executive director Alan Camilleri reported yesterday.

He told a news conference that the NECC helpline received 702 calls on Wednesday alone, when 1,400 used to be received monthly before the introduction of the euro. An even bigger flow of calls was coming in yesterday.

Two worrying cases were reported, one of a car park that had rounded its prices up instead of down and another of a doctor's office which had increased the waiting fee rate. Both were warned they would be fined unless they rectified the situation.

"We're adamant on these issues. The euro should not be a reason for price increases. There should not be price increases without an economic reason," Mr Camilleri insisted.

Callers, he said, mainly wanted reassurance. Many asked about the euro rate, how to operate the euro converters and how to write cheques. One person called to inform the committee that the euro notes did not bear the signature of Malta's Central Bank Governor as the liri used to.

Consumers were feeling empowered and some called to complain they were not given change in euros. Whenever such a complaint was received, Mr Camilleri said, the name of the establishment was requested and this was contacted immediately and an explanation demanded. The reasons given by the retailers in most cases were justified. A common reason was that consumers were using Lm10 notes to pay for small items which they usually paid for in Lm2 notes.

Retailers who had given change in liri said they did so because their cash float had finished, others were waiting for their cash register to be changed, six petrol pumps had still not yet been converted to accept euros and some vending machines had not yet been set to operate in euros. The NECC knew about this but, since there were a large number of machines and very few operators, it was impossible to convert all overnight.

There were some complaints about buses both from drivers and commuters. Drivers, Mr Camilleri said, were not as prepared as they should have been with some not turning up for any of the courses that had been held purposely for them. Some commuters were using liri notes to pay for their bus fares.

The matter was discussed at a meeting in the afternoon between officials from the Urban Development and Roads Ministry, the Malta Transport Authority (ADT), the Public Transport Association and NECC. They urged commuters to pay in euros. If this were not possible, the exact amount in Maltese currency should be paid.

The ADT said drivers were entitled not to accept payment if the exact fare in Maltese currency was not paid. "This is being done in order to ensure efficiency in public transport at this time of change," the ADT said.

Mr Camilleri said that banks, which had fast-track lanes for retailers, complained that retailers were coming to them with bag-loads of uncounted coins.

All automated teller machines (ATMs) had converted to euros by noon on Wednesday and transactions were now proceeding smoothly. There were 33,933 ATM withdrawals, amounting to €3.13 million (Lm1.42 million), on Tuesday and 30,890, amounting to €3.89 million (Lm1.67 million), on Wednesday.

There have also been 37,663 cash transactions amounting to €20.7 million (Lm8.89 million) over bank counters on Wednesday. (Banks were not open on Tuesday). This was almost double the amount of withdrawals in Cyprus where 105,000 €17 (Lm7.30) starter kits were sold against the 160,000 €12 (Lm5.15) starter kits sold in Malta. Another 28,000 retailer starter kits each worth €131 (Lm56.24) were sold in Malta. Mr Camilleri said the European Commission was running a daily survey in Malta and Gozo and the NECC was holding its own among retailers and receiving daily reports from its euro centres.

The Commission's survey on Wednesday found that 21 per cent of Maltese (12 per cent Cypriots) had euro bank notes only, 21 per cent of Maltese (31 per cent Cypriots) had mostly euros, 29 per cent of Maltese (20 per cent Cypriots) had only euro cent coins and 23 per cent of Maltese (26 per cent Cypriots) had mostly euro cents.

Thirty-six per cent of Maltese (28 per cent Cypriots) were making cash payments in shops in euros only and 58 per cent of Maltese (68 per cent Cypriots) were still using the old currency. Seventy-five per cent of Maltese (87 per cent Cypriots) reported cash transactions where change was given in only euros and five per cent of Maltese and five per cent of Cypriots reported cash transactions with change given in just the old currency.

A total 6.57 per cent of retailers replying to the NECC survey said "always" when asked if consumers were paying in euros; 21.05 per cent said often, 36.84 per cent very often and 35.53 per cent said very few times. Retailers were also asked if it was easy to exchange liri into euros at banks, to which 15.75 per cent said it was very easy, 42.47 per cent said it was quite easy, 23 per cent said it was not so easy and 17 per cent said it was difficult. They were asked about the ability to obtain euro cash in a relatively easy manner: 14.86 per cent said it was very easy, 27.03 per cent said it was quite easy, 35 per cent said it was not so easy and 22.97 per cent said it was difficult.

This, Mr Camilleri said, largely reflected the queues in banks. Moreover, some retailers were asking for huge amounts of money. This could be a symptom of the large amount of money in circulation in Malta, amounting to €675.52 million (Lm290 million) as at December 31. He appealed for payments to be made in euros whenever possible. Moreover, people should not exchange their hoarded money into euros at this point. They had until the end of March to do so. Retailers should replace their euro stocks at the end of each day.