Lithuania in the News
11th January 2015
Lithuania Joins the Eurozone
Governor of Lithuania’s Central Bank, Vitas Vasiliauskas,
(left) examining the new Lithuanian 10 Euro note together
with Finance Minister, Rimantas Šadžius, (centre ) and
Prime Minister, Algirdas Butkevičius (right).
Photo courtesy lrytas.lt
NASDAQ building in Times Square,
New York. Photo courtesy lrytas.lt
On 1 January 2015 Lithuania joined the Eurozone to become the 19th member of the euro area. Its transition to the Euro was made easier by Lithuania's original currency (Litas) having been tied to the Euro for a long time at 1 Euro = 3.45 Litas.
Lithuania's Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius had the privilege of withdrawing the first 10 Euro note from an ATM machine just after midnight on January 1 amid much jubilation. Congratulations to Lithuania were received internationally. The Prime Ministers of Estonia and Latvia, fellow Baltic countries who had joined the Eurozone in 2011 and 2014 respectively, were standing alongside Prime Minister Butkevičius for the formal withdrawal of the first Euro note.
Lithuania's joining the Eurozone was even noted on the NASDAQ building in Time Square, New York. Lithuania has been the only country to have been so honoured by NASDAQ on joining the Eurozone.

Further information:
www.lrytas.lt - 01-06/01/15
On this website - News Archive/ Lithuania in the news/ 20th July 2014