Latvians warm to new euro currency

Latvians are warming to the new euro currency six days after its introduction, a survey shows.

Latvia became the 18th country to adopt the euro on Jan. 1 this year. 

Over half of Latvian residents only carry the new currency in their wallets, whilst 70 percent are making cash transactions only in the euro currency, according to the latest survey carried out by the European Commission's Eurobarometer social research center.

As of Jan. 6, 52 percent of Latvian residents had only euro bills in their wallets, while nine percent had ''mostly'' euro bills in their wallets.

This figure has increased substantially since Jan. 2, when only 15 percent of residents had only euro bills in their wallets, while another 10 percent had ''mostly'' euro bills in their wallets.

According to statistics, 70 percent of cash transactions in Latvia were in the euro currency on Jan. 6, whilst 24 percent were with lats. This is a substantial increase when compared to January 2, when only 30 percent of cash transaction were made with the euro currency.