Euro timetable is 'unworkable'

THE Government's plans for the speedy introduction of the euro were dealt a heavy blow when the big High Street banks said the timetable was unworkable. 'The quickest timetable is not possible,' said William Mason, executive director of the British Bankers Association. 'We feel it is too short a time. It doesn't allow enough time for everything to be done.'

The announcement is a potential embarrassment for Chancellor Gordon Brown and the Treasury, whose blueprint for the possible scrapping of the pound was laid out in its National Changeover Plan, published in March 2000. It also casts doubt on whether joining could be completed before the next election.

The banks face a massive task in rewriting computer programs to cope with the transition period, the few months when pounds and pence will be legal tender alongside euros and cents.

The Treasury has pencilled in preparation time of 28-34 months between the decision to hold a referendum and the introduction of notes and coins. The BBA said it expected preparations to take 34 to 38 months. 'We can just squeeze into their slowest timetable,' said Mason. 'Anything else would be pushing it.'