ROME -- Italy, Finland and Portugal lagged behind other euro countries for ATM conversions, with 90 percent of their machines dispensing euros on Jan. 4, three days after Europe's new common currency was introduced to the public.
In contrast, Germany, Austria, Ireland, Luxembourg, Belgium, Greece and the Netherlands had switched all of their ATMs by Jan. 4.
European Central Bank President Wim Duisenberg said that 96 percent of the ATMs in the 12 countries using the common currency, or 197,400 machines, had been converted to euros by the afternoon of Jan. 3.
The European Commission sees the ATM as a key distribution channel for euro because Europeans use them for about 70 percent of cash withdrawals.
According to the European Commission, Italy also lagged behind the rest of Europe in terms of cash transactions conducted in euro, with euros used in 25 percent of cash transactions in Italy on Jan. 3, compared to an EU average of 40 percent.
"We are not in a race,' said the deputy director general of the Bank of Italy, Antonio Finocchiaro. "I would be an idiot, however, if I didn't admit that we have had a few setbacks.'
With Italy trailing its European partners in euro conversion, Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi scoffed at critics who said he had not done enough to prepare for the new currency. "It's me who guides the foreign policy of this country and our commitment to Europe and to the euro is not up for discussion,' Berlusconi said in a report in the Jan. 4 edition of the Rome daily La Repubblica.
His comments came a day after Italian Foreign Minister Renato Ruggiero said he was saddened by the anti-Europe stance of some Cabinet ministers and Berlusconi's "silence' over the arrival of the new money.
According to an Associated Press report, Italy was slower than other countries in starting its euro public-awareness campaign, staged no official euro debut celebrations on New Year's and didn't provide enough euro starter kits for consumers in the lead-up to Jan. 1.
