The Euro Currency Turns a Decade Old and is Living Up to Its Expectations

On January 1, 1999, eleven countries joined together to launch a common currency. The currency was dubbed "The Euro" and was not much of an early success. In fact the original 11 that started using the currency witnessed a great decline before the rise. But on Jan 1, 2009 the Euro will turn a decade old and European currency is showing that it can live up to its expectations.

The purpose of creating the Euro was to lower borrowing costs, ease trade and tourism, boost growth and strengthen the European community. The original 11 that participated in the Euro included Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. Now about a decade later there are 15 after Cyprus, Greece, Malta and Slovenia were added and with Slovakia's commitment to join on January 1, 2009 the grand total will be brought up to 16 participating countries (source: finance.yahoo.com).

When the Euro was first launched the currency saw an early plunge as it went from US$1.18 (US Dollar equivalent) to US$0.82 in October of 2000. But the years since have been much kinder to the foreign currency and it has seen highs against the American Dollar of US$1.60038. While currently down to around US$1.40 it has seen a strong gain on other currencies such as the British Pound. With the enjoyed success of the Euro other countries are starting to take notice and even reconsidering the way they are thinking of future currencies (source: finance.yahoo.com).

It's hard to argue that the Euro hasn't done what it was set forth to do. It is estimated that some 15 million new jobs have been created over the last six years due to the easy of trade and travel through a single market created by the Euro. With the inclusion of Slovakia at the beginning of the New Year, the Euro will be used by approximately 330 million people with an estimated GDP (gross domestic product) of more than euro4 trillion or about US$5.5 trillion (source: finance.yahoo.com).

In a time of economic turmoil for much of the world that has seen currencies plunge and government bailouts needed, the Euro currency continues to thrive. While it was originally viewed by many naysayers as an experiment that wouldn't pan out , the Euro has been a smashing success and is showing that it has and can continue to live up to its expectations. While it may be young as a currency at just one decade old, it is leading the way in the global currency market and is certainly going to enjoy a happy birthday this January with many more to come.