The European Commission has proposed that the final and irrevocable exchange rate at which Slovenian tolars are exchanged for euros on 1 January 2007 be fixed at 239.64 tolars per euro.
This is the rate at which Slovenia entered the ERM II exchange rate mechanism two years ago.
The Commission said that it decided to propose a central parity rate because the actual exchange rate fluctuated only by around plus or minus 0.1% over the two-year period in ERM II, well within the 15% margin.
Last week, the Commission concluded that practical preparations for the introduction of the euro in Slovenia were at an advanced stage, but final preparations must be speeded up to ensure a smooth changeover and address citizens' concerns about price increases.
The decision on the exchange rate is still to be confirmed at the 11 July meeting of EU finance ministers. Thus Slovenia would meet all the formal criteria for its planned adoption of the euro on 1 January 2007.
Slovenia thus looks set to become the 13th member of the Eurozone and the first newcomer from the 2004 round of enlargement to adopt the single European currency.
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