Last year LVL 611,900 (EUR 871,000) Latvian banknotes and coins were exchanged for euros at the Bank of Latvia, LETA was told at the central bank.
The money exchanged in 2023 included lats banknotes worth LVL 556,600 (EUR 792,000) and lats coins worth LVL 55,300 (EUR 78,700).
In 2023, over 2,500 lats exchange transactions were carried out at the Bank of Latvia’s cash desks.
As at the end of 2023, 40 percent of lats coins (worth EUR 41.3 million) and 96 percent of lats banknotes (EUR 1.341 billion) had been taken out of circulation.
At the end of 2023, lats banknotes and coins worth LVL 82.8 million or EUR 117.9 million still had not been exchanged for euros. This includes 339.6 million lats coins weighing 779 tons.
Most of the lats coins not yet exchanged are of the smallest denominations – 238.7 million one-santim and two-santim coins. Meanwhile, 23.8 million one-lat coins have yet to be exchanged for euros.
Latvia gave up its national currency, the lats, and switched to euros on January 1, 2014.
Source: BNS
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