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Slovaks embrace euro after first week of use

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January 8, 2009 11:21 AM EST | AP

BRUSSELS, Belgium — Slovakia is embracing the euro with gusto, according to statistics taken by EU officials during the first week of use of the new currency in the eastern European nation.

The European Commission said Thursday six out of ten cash payments are already being made with the euro, which replaced the Slovak koruna on Jan. 1.

The EU executive added that three quarters of the 5.4 million Slovaks now have mostly euro bank notes in their wallets.

The old koruna currency will be in circulation alongside the euro until Jan. 16 and banks faced a rush of customers on Monday seeking to exchange their old bills for new euros.

The Commission said euro325 million ($443 million) worth of exchanges were made to the new currency on Monday, which was the first day back from holidays for many workers.

"In total, between 1 and 6 January 2009, citizens made 100,000 more withdrawals from automated teller machines than in the equivalent period of 2008," the Commission said.

The EU head office noted only small glitches in the rollout of the new currency, such as some problems with availability of change for large euro bank notes in rural areas.

The small alpine nation became the 16th country to adopt the euro, an EU project which is also celebrating its 10th birthday this year. With Slovakia, the currency will be used by 330 million people with an annual gross domestic product of more than euro4 trillion ($5.45 trillion).