THE people of the French overseas territory of Martinique seem better prepared for the switch from francs to euros than much of mainland France and they are a lot more enthusiastic about it.
Alexandre Alexis pulled a small package from his shop till and unfolded a scrap of newspaper to reveal seven newly minted coins.
“No problem,” he said in French creole, adding, “we’re more than ready for the euro around here.”
As he returned to the task of writing out price tags in the two currencies – green for francs; pink for euros – he held up the notes and coins for general inspection, saying: “They’re rather pretty, aren’t they?” Curious customers, who had shuffled up for a closer look, nodded in agreement.
On the Caribbean island of Martinique, more than 4,000 miles from Paris, locals are preparing to embrace the euro on New Year’s Day with an enthusiasm sometimes missing in Europe itself.
Martinique, Guadeloupe, Reunion and the French overseas territories of New Caledonia, French Polynesia, and Wallis and Futuna, make up the farthest-flung departements of the French Republic.
France is shipping a total of 70 million euro notes and 1,500 tons of coins to its overseas territories. Just over 17 million euros will go to Martinique.
The island received its first consignment of 470 tons of coins at the end of July and began distributing “euro kits” to banks, shops and businesses in November – two weeks before France.
“Either you’re in Europe or you’re out, and we’re definitely in,” said Mr Alexis, who runs a supermarket in Les Trois-Ilets, a village on the south-west coast.
“Of course there will be some panic to begin with, but people will quickly get used to the new money. I’ve not heard any real complaints about the changeover and people seem happy enough about adopting the euro.”
He added: “In the Metropole [mainland], people seem to worry about how the elderly will cope. Here, the old are better at converting to the new money than the young. Ninety per cent of them belong to clubs that have organised intensive euro information campaigns.”
Despite Parisian fears of financial chaos in the former Caribbean colonies, some Martiniquais seem better prepared for the arrival of a new currency than much of mainland France.
One businessman living on the island said proudly that he and his colleagues had performed all transactions over the past six months using euro chequebooks. Even a young fisherman selling the morning’s catch – a 130lb tuna – was able to make an educated stab at the franc-euro conversion rate.
“Sixty francs a kilo,” he said, pointing to the huge fish, before adding authoritatively, “that would be nine point something-or-other in euros.” The actual price, rounded up, would have been 9.15 euros.
Confusion is likely, however, in the remoter parts of the island. In some isolated areas, many locals will not have seen a newspaper this year. The chances of them having benefited from the government’s euro information campaign are slim.
Josy Clostie-Elise, one of the organisers of the campaign, admitted that there would be problems.
She said: “These people are far away from everything and are often ageing and out of work. Most of them speak only creole and still count in old francs [which were abolished in 1963]. What’s more, they don’t even have bank accounts.”
Then there are the markets, where trade is seldom conducted according to standard accounting procedures. “How do you have a campaign for pricing things in both francs and euros when, in the markets, there are no price labels?” Ms Clostie-Elise pointed out.
The government is striving to overcome such problems. The island is financially reliant on France and is desperate to make the euro work.
France’s overseas dependencies cost Paris about £5.8 billion a year – about half of which goes to Martinique, funding 70 per cent of the island’s budget.
Despite an unemployment rate running at 28 per cent, and a drop in tourism of 20 per cent over the past two years, the Martiniquais still enjoy the highest per capita standard of living in the Caribbean. That is largely thanks to French taxpayers.
Whatever confusions may lie in store, Martinique cannot afford to fall off a gravy train that, from January 1, will be fuelled by euros rather than francs.
