Eurozone

From Forexpedia

The euro zone officially consists of 13 countries:

• Austria
• Belgium
• France
• Finland
• Germany
• Greece
• Ireland
• Italy
• Luxembourg
• Netherlands
• Portugal
• Slovenia
• Spain

The euro zone came into life in 1999, when the first member states decided to officially adopt the euro as their common currency. The bloc was formed to unify European countries to become a single, economic super power. All together, the euro zone is almost equal to the population and GDP of the United States.

Politically speaking, the euro zone is collectively represented by the Euro Group, which comprises member nations’ finance ministers governed by a President also known as “Mr. Euro”.

By being part of the euro zone, participating countries adhere to the monetary policies set by the European Central Bank. The ECB’s primary concern is to ensure economic growth by keeping exchange rates stable and inflation low. The ECB is comprised by the central banks of the European Union states that chose to adopt euro as their domestic currency. The use of a single currency would help promote trade, while reducing transactions costs that occurred in everyday business.