Do you still have Kunas? After the New Year, you will only be able to exchange them in one bank. In Croatia, nearly five billion Kunas still have not yet been exchanged for euros. After the New Year, the exchange will only be possible in one bank, warned the Croatian National Bank (HNB).
Since Croatia became part of the Eurozone on January 1, 2023, citizens and businesses still hold around 4.85 billion Kunas (644 million euros) in cash.
Citizens can exchange cash Kunas until December 31, 2023, at banks, FINA, and at the Croatian Post.
However, you only have a couple of months left to exchange your Kuna notes and coins into Euros, as from January 1, 2024, these institutions will stop exchanging Kunas and you can only change Kunas at the Croatian National Bank.
The Croatian National Bank will permanently exchange banknotes in Kunas, while coins can be exchanged within three years from the introduction of the Euro, or no later than December 31, 2025.
Banknotes and coins in Kunas can be exchanged at a fixed exchange rate of 7.53450 Kunas for one Euro in banks and units of the Croatian Financial Agency (FINA) and in branches of the Croatian Post until the end of the year.
Before the introduction of the euro in Croatia, a total of 500 million banknotes and three billion Kuna coins were in circulation. Of that, 436.2 million, or 87 percent of banknotes, and 742 million, or 25 percent of coins were exchanged.
The HNB emphasizes that despite the reduction in the amount of cash, the experiences of countries that have introduced the euro show that not all cash from the former currency is ever exchanged.