Euro Day: Trials and tribulations (1)

The target date for Malta's euro adoption has been known for quite some time. In fact, in the Budget Speech for 2006, the government had set January 1, 2008 as the target date. From then on, it was up to the National Euro Changeover Committee (NECC) and all stakeholders to make it all happen.

Certain doubts emerged along the path as to whether the euro date would actually materialise particularly in terms of whether the country manages to meet the Maastricht criteria in an acceptable and sustainable manner. The inflation criterion and, to a lesser extent, the debt and deficit-to-GDP ratios were deemed to be "in the balance".

Amid these doubts, however, EU Commissioner Joaquin Almunia indicated just a few days ago that Malta was likely to make it. Mr Almunia made this pronouncement on the basis of the European Commission's Autumn 2006 economic forecasts.

This encouraging news was closely followed by a second positive assessment by the European Monetary Affairs Commissioner. A few days later, Mr Almunia praised Malta for its technical preparations with respect to euro adoption.

In the light of all this, it was also promising to note that according to the latest Eurobarometer survey the Maltese people's support for the euro increased from 42 to 48 per cent over the last six months, the rest saying they were not yet informed enough. It is expected that NECC will continue to intensify its information campaign and in the process inform the public on developments related to the practical and technical preparations to be made prior to the introduction of the euro.

The role of the Malta Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise (MCCE) in the euro changeover plan is two-fold: To consult with the authorities on the guidelines and regulations and, more importantly, to act as an efficient channel of two-way communication between the authorities and all sectors of the business community.

With regard to the first function, the chamber participated actively in the NECC set-up of committees and task forces right from the start. It forms part of the pricing task force and the private sector committee which, in turn, has maintained close contact with the other committees. Besides, the MCCE took the initiative to highlight IT in the private sector task force. The function of this crucial task force is to ensure that the local IT industry is fully aware of the task at hand and that it guides all players to prepare adequately to ensure that our businesses are in turn satisfactorily prepared.

Our chairmanship of this task force makes us eligible to sit on the NECC which is of key mutual importance for NECC and a business organisation like the chamber.

The chamber's active participation in the NECC committees and the NECC itself gave the chamber a first-hand opportunity to relay its members' views on the master plans published by NECC and other crucial issues such as the guidelines on rounding and smoothing dual display of prices and the FAIR initiative. In terms of two-way communication, the chamber ensured that issues relating to euro adoption were amply discussed within its internal committees and trade sections where members meet on a sectoral basis. Much information on our members' views was sourced in this manner as well as through periodic surveys.

In January, the chamber circulated the NECC Euro Changeover Checklist publication to all its members. Besides regular updates and articles in various publications, the chamber held a number of presentations, information meetings and seminars with the cooperation of NECC.

Initially, such events were of a general nature and lately these became more focused, providing more detailed information relative to the particular requirements of specific sectors and industries. For instance, a few weeks ago, three meetings was held for the financial services sector. A conference of a larger scale is planned for next month with the collaboration of Bank of Valletta and NECC.

Such initiatives are taken because the chamber's priority is to ensure its members are well placed to enjoy full benefit from the currency transformation. We all know the economic benefits and costs associated with the adoption of the euro and the chamber is committed to ensure there is a net gain for the country and the business community from the adoption of the euro.

Mr Borg is director general of the Malta Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise.