Retailers will be hit by Euro bill

EUROPEAN CURRENCY

The introduction of a single European currency could land British retailers with a bill of around u3.5 billion, according to estimates from Eurocurrency, the European Union retailing body.

The costs would be incurred by the need to handle two currencies at the tills and to display two prices during the change-over phase as well as retraining staff and changing tills and back office computers.

Leading retailers, who are normally in favour of European monetary union, expressed horror at the estimate, fearing that absorbing the cost would devastate their profits, while passing it on to the consumer would push up inflation to an unacceptable level.

The Eurocurrency report also points out that selling a single currency to sceptical voters will be doubly difficult for the government of the day if it is going to lead to huge hikes in prices as well as a depressed retail sector.