Commission notice on a technical adjustment to the reference and discount rates for Greece

(2001/C 66/07)

On 2 July 1997 the Commission decided to adopt, with effect from 1 August 1997, a new method for setting and updating the reference and discount rates (referred to below as the reference rate). Member States were informed by letter (dated 18 August 1997) and a notice was published in the Official Journal of the European Communities (OJ C 273, 9.9.1997).

This method sets the reference rate for each Member State on the basis of indicative rates defined as the monthly average of the five-year interbank swap rates, plus an adjustment premium.

Following entry into the third stage of economic and monetary union on 1 January 1999 and in view of the use of the euro by the financial markets, the Commission decided (OJ C 241, 26.8.1999, p. 9) that, from 1 July 1999, the reference rate would be identical for the eleven Member States that have adopted the euro.

Since Greece is adopting the euro on 1 January 2001, the Commission has decided to make the following technical adjustment:

- From 1 January 2001 the reference rate for Greece will be identical to that for the eleven Member States that have already adopted the euro.

All the other aspects of the method outlined in the Commission notice of 9 September 1997 continue to apply.

For Member States which have not adopted the euro, the method for setting the reference rates is unchanged.