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CURRENCY

Krona hits 14-year high against pound

Tourists from Sweden are set to benefit this spring as the krona continues to strengthen against major global currencies.

Published: 2 March 2010 17:47 CET

Continental Europe, the US and the UK have all become cheaper places to shop in recent months for anyone paying with Swedish currency.

The euro and the dollar are each almost two kronor cheaper than they were a year ago, while the pound – at 10.80 kronor on Tuesday – costs 2.30 kronor less than last year. Not since 1996 has the pound cost so little.

With a number of EU countries running heavy budget deficits and suffering financial woes, Sweden is being viewed as a more stable proposition, according to Handelbanken’s currency strategist Jenny Mannent.

“The krona has benefited from all this mess in the world. Many foreign investors have begun speaking about the Swedish krona as a more stable currency in recent months,” she said.

Mannent said she expected the krona to remain strong for the foreseeable future.

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CURRENCY

Spanish town brings back the peseta in bid to boost spending

They haven't been legal currency in Spain since 2002 but residents in one town in Valencia can now spend any old pesetas they have hidden away thanks to a scheme aimed at boosting spending during the coronavirus crisis.

Published: 28 October 2020 14:12 CET
Spanish town brings back the peseta in bid to boost spending
Old peseta notes and coins can be exchanged until the end of 2020. Photo: AFP

The Multipaterna Commerce and Services Association has launched a campaign that allows payment to be made with pesetas in certain establishments in Paterna, a town in the Valencian Community.

The campaign, which includes hardware stores, opticians, computer and electronics stores, real estate, florists, lingerie stores and parcel kiosks, will run until December 15th. 

For the rest of Spain those who still have the old currency there is still a few months left to convert them into euros, although they can’t spend them in shops.

Spaniards have been told that they have until December 31st 2020  to exchange their pesetas for euros and that applies for both bank notes and coins.

Any notes produced during the Franco era, which ran from the end of the Civil War in 1939 until the dictator's death in 1975 can be automatically changed by the Bank of Spain.

Those issued during the conflict can also be exchanged but the process will involve them being analysed by experts to confirm their authenticity.

And any coins still in circulation at the time that euros were brought in on New Year's Day in 2002 can also be exchanged at Bank of Spain headquarters in Madrid.

The exchange rate offered  by the Bank of Spain is 1 euro = 166,386 pesetas but the bank advised that commemorative coins and notes may be worth more as collectors' items than for their face value, which is all that will be offered in the exchange scheme.

The Bank of Spain estimates that pesetas worth some €1.61 billion are squirreled away in Spanish homes, cluttering up the drawers of old desks and trunks in dusty old attics.

Many will never see the light of the day and others have become collectors' items now worth more than their exchangeable value.

Spain adopted the Euro at the start of 2002 but pesetas were still legal currency during a transition period that lasted the first three months of that year.

Exchanges can be made in person at the Banco España building on Madrid's Calle Alcala or via a postal or online service, even available to those abroad.  For more information check out the official webpage of the Banco España HERE. 

By Conor Patrick Faulkner in Valencia

 

 

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