Euro Cash in Austria, Ten Years On

In the run-up to the euro launch, a number of key steps were taken to ensure the uninterrupted supply of notes and coins to the economy and the general public. After all, nearly 15 billion notes and 52 billion coins had to be delivered in due time in order to ensure their availability from January 1, 2002, onward in the participating countries. In Austria, the Oesterreichische Nationalbank shares the responsibility of supplying commercial banks with cash and of processing returned banknotes in accordance with ECB regulations – and thus of ensuring the quality of the euro and its counterfeit security – with an affiliated cash logistics company, GELDSERVICE AUSTRIA. When the financial crisis boosted the demand for cash, logistical reserve stocks enabled the Eurosystem to respond quickly. As a result, the volume of euro cash in circulation rose, as did U.S. dollar circulation. However, the overall value of euro notes and coins in circulation has consistently remained above that of the U.S. dollar since the end of 2006. The euro’s established role as an international transaction currency has resulted in approximately one-quarter more banknotes being processed in Austria than the volume required for the national market.