Lithuania: Parliament passes law on Euro introduction
In preparation for the planned introduction of the Euro in Lithuania, the Parliament adopted a law on Euro introduction. The Act will enter into force on the date when the Council of the European Union abolishes the exemption on non-introduction of the Euro for Lithuania.
Under the law, the Bank of Lithuania will immediately and for an unlimited time convert both Litas banknotes as well as Litas-/Centas-Coins into Euro free of charge and without limitation of the amount. On the day of introduction of the Euro, all bank accounts will be converted for free. Within 6 months from the date of Euro adoption, commercial banks in all branches will exchange Litas into Euro for free and without limitation of the amount. Later, for 6 months banks will exchange Litas into Euro free of charge. However, this will only be possible in some bank branches specified in advance by the Bank of Lithuania. Banks will be able to require advance warning of conversions exceeding LTL 15 000 (EUR 4 344,30) at any one time.
The law requires Lithuanian post offices to convert Litas into Euros free of charge until two months after introduction of the Euro. The Lithuanian post office will be able to set the maximum amount of Litas that can be converted at any one time. The same will apply to credit unions.
The new law also sets a general mathematical rounding scheme: if the digit after a decimal is less than five, then it is rounded down, while in the opposite case it is rounded up. Additionally, in the conversion of salaries one Euro cent will be added to the salary if the third digit is greater than 0 after conversion. The same principle will apply to conversion of pensions and other social benefits.
A first-time violation of this law by a natural person may result in a warning. The manager of a legal person or a person authorized by him may be fined LTL 1 000 (approx. EUR 300). The law sets higher fines for repeat violations.
Source: TAR, 2014, Nr. 2014-04875.