November the 2nd, 2023 – The old Croatian currency (kuna/HRK) is still being kept in socks, under mattresses and in secret drawers in many a household – and in very large sums.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Tihomir Mavriček, executive director of the Cash Sector of the Croatian National Bank (CNB/HNB), spoke to HRT about the old Croatian currency still being kept in houses, saying the following:
“The experiences of all countries that have introduced the euro so far show that you never end up recovering all of the old currency. Some old coins and banknotes stay home as souvenirs, some gets lost, and some has been destroyed.”
He added that so far, 436 million pieces of old Croatian currency in the form of banknotes have been returned out of the 500 million in circulation, which means 87 percent of it. In addition, 742 million coins have been returned out of a total of three billion in circulation. This is 25 percent of the total amount of coins of the old Croatian currency which had been produced.
“We’d like to invite people come and and exchange their kuna for euros at almost two thousand bank locations, post offices and FINA locations by December the 31st this year. Up to 100 pieces of banknotes and 100 pieces of kuna coins can be changed for free, and banks have decided not to charge a fee if more than 100 pieces are being changed at once,” Mavriček emphasised.
As he explained, from January the 1st next year, kuna will only be able to be exchanged for euros exclusively at the CNB. This can be done for an unlimited number of old Croatian currency banknotes, as well as for coins, until December the 31st, 2025. After that, the coins will no longer be exchangeable at all. A counter is currently being prepared in Zagreb, where money can be exchanged and will be in operation from January the 2nd, 2024.
