<p>Yes, upon the introduction of the euro on January 1, 1999, all debt (indeed, all nominal contracts) in participating countries was converted from national currency to euros at a legally defined conversion rate. See <a href="http://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/1998/html/pr981231_2.en.html" rel="nofollow">this press release from December 31, 1998</a>, which states:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>In accordance with Article 109l (4) of the Treaty establishing the
  European Community, the irrevocable conversion rates for the euro were
  today adopted by the EU Council, upon a proposal from the Commission
  of the European Communities and after consultation of the European
  Central Bank (ECB) for effect at 0.00 on 1 January 1999 (local time).
  In compliance with the legal framework for the use of the euro, the
  irrevocable conversion rate for the euro for each participating
  currency is the only rate to be used for conversion either way between
  the euro and the national currency unit and also for conversions
  between national currency units.</p>
  
  <p>The euro conversion rates are the following...</p>
</blockquote>

<p>For the particular case of Greece, which joined the euro on January 1, 2001 instead, the conversion rate with the drachma was apparently set at 1 euro = 340.750 drachma by <a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32000R1478" rel="nofollow">this regulation</a> in June 2000.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-22T01:13:22.403Z
Not apparently -that was indeed the conversion rate.
Alecos Papadopoulos
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-22T03:12:55.470Z
@Alecos, I didn't mean to suggest that the rate was in doubt; the "apparently" was about whether or not that particular regulation was truly responsible for setting the rate, which is always a little unclear. (i.e. the June 2000 regulation could have just been restating an official number that had already been bouncing around for a few months. I don't think so, but I'm not familiar with the exact sequence of events in 2000.)
nominally rigid
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-22T03:35:48.363Z
Oh, I misread. Now that I think about it, if the word "apparently" was placed immediately before "by this regulation" and preceded by a comma, I wouldn't have thought the the conversion rate itself was maybe in doubt. But then again, English is not my native language, so all misunderstanding is mine...
Alecos Papadopoulos
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-22T03:43:14.747Z
No problem. My wording was a little ambiguous. :)
nominally rigid
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-12-21T06:11:23.413Z
2015-08-31T15:59:59.387Z
2015-08-31T15:59:59.387Z
nominally rigid
<p>When a country, say Greece, adopted the Euro as its currency, what happened to the debt that was based on the Drachma? Was it converted into Euros?</p>

<currency><debt><euro-area>
When a country adopts the Euro, what happens to its debt?
Steve
# When a country adopts the Euro, what happens to its debt?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-12-21)

When a country, say Greece, adopted the Euro as its currency, what happened to the debt that was based on the Drachma? Was it converted into Euros?

**Tags:** currency, debt, euro-area


---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2014-12-21. Score: 12

Yes, upon the introduction of the euro on January 1, 1999, all debt (indeed, all nominal contracts) in participating countries was converted from national currency to euros at a legally defined conversion rate. See [this press release from December 31, 1998](http://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/1998/html/pr981231_2.en.html), which states:

> In accordance with Article 109l (4) of the Treaty establishing the
> European Community, the irrevocable conversion rates for the euro were
> today adopted by the EU Council, upon a proposal from the Commission
> of the European Communities and after consultation of the European
> Central Bank (ECB) for effect at 0.00 on 1 January 1999 (local time).
> In compliance with the legal framework for the use of the euro, the
> irrevocable conversion rate for the euro for each participating
> currency is the only rate to be used for conversion either way between
> the euro and the national currency unit and also for conversions
> between national currency units.
>
> The euro conversion rates are the following...

For the particular case of Greece, which joined the euro on January 1, 2001 instead, the conversion rate with the drachma was apparently set at 1 euro = 340.750 drachma by [this regulation](http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32000R1478) in June 2000.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: Not apparently -that was indeed the conversion rate.  
> **username_1**: @username_2, I didn't mean to suggest that the rate was in doubt; the "apparently" was about whether or not that particular regulation was truly responsible for setting the rate, which is always a little unclear. (i.e. the June 2000 regulation could have just been restating an official number that had already been bouncing around for a few months. I don't think so, but I'm not familiar with the exact sequence of events in 2000.)  
> **username_2**: Oh, I misread. Now that I think about it, if the word "apparently" was placed immediately before "by this regulation" and preceded by a comma, I wouldn't have thought the the conversion rate itself was maybe in doubt. But then again, English is not my native language, so all misunderstanding is mine...  
> **username_1**: No problem. My wording was a little ambiguous. :)  

---

