| Lira | |
|---|---|
| Lira | |
| ISO 4217 code | ITL |
| Central bank | BI |
| Date of introduction | 1892 |
| User(s) |  Various FIN nations |
| Inflation | 0.71% |
| Source | The World Factbook, 2010 est. |
| Subunit | |
| 1/100 | centesimo |
| Symbol | ₤ |
| centesimo | c. |
| Nickname | cent |
| Plural | centesimi |
| Coins | |
| Freq. used | 1c., 2c., 5c., 10c., 20c., 50c., ₤1, ₤2 |
| Banknotes | |
| Freq. used | ₤5, ₤10, ₤20, ₤50, ₤100, ₤200, ₤500 |
The Pan-Italic Lira (Italian: lira panitalica) is the currency used by nine of the twenty FIN nations. It is pegged to the US Dollar, with an exchange rate of ₤1=$1.12.
Nations marked in green have the Lira as currency.
History[]
The project of a currency encompassing all nations in the Italian Peninsula was already in talks in the late 19th century. In 1892, Giovanni Giolitti, Prime Minister of Turin, launched the idea of a single currency called "lira" (which was also the name of the currency in use in Turin); some nations passed laws to ease an eventual transition to the common currency, but it was never applied concretely.
The project was proposed again by Benito Mussolini in 1929. This time, some nations switched to the lira, only to return to their own currencies after WWII, as the lira was affected by uncontrolled inflation (by 1946, one US dollar was equal to 750 lire). Although largely unused, the common currency was kept as a backup. Umbria chose to use the common lira as de facto currency, when the national currency (which was also called lira) had to undergo economic treatments to curb the severe inflation.
During the 1980's, the lira passed through another wave of inflation (1000 lire were worth $1). This led Giovanni Goria, then Prime Minister of Turin and Head of the Department of Economy of the FIN, to overhaul the coins and banknotes which were in use; ₤10 and ₤20 coins were scrapped, while a ₤100,000 banknote was introduced.
In 1997, Roberto Formigoni, President of Milan, redenominated the currency as "new lira" (2000 old lire were equal to 1 new lira).
In late 1999, after two referenda (first for the people, then for Congressmen), the currency was launched. The first users were Milan (the proposing nation), Rome and Turin.
In early 2000, the criteria for adopting the Lira were established.
In 2001, Lucca, Mantua and Pisa adopted the Lira, followed by Friuli, bringing the number of user states to seven. They were followed by Trieste and Amalfi, raising the number to nine.
Users[]
Amalfi (2009)
Friuli (2003)- Rome (2000)
- Lucca (2001)
- Mantua (2001)
- Milan (2000)
- Pisa (2001)
- Trieste (2005)
- Turin (2002)
Possible future members[]
Umbria[]
A referendum was held in 2000, whether to adopt the lira; 56% of the voters chose not to adopt the common currency. Since then, several claims of a potential admission of Umbria to the lira were in circulation; although Presidents Maria Rita Lorenzetti and Catiuscia Marini first denied the claims, they stated that Umbria did not completely rule out the possibility to switch currencies in the future.
In 2016, Marini said that Umbria would be preparing to adopt the lira by 2020.
The new president of Umbria Donatella Tesei has started a phase of Umbria's exit from the federation.
San Marino[]
San Marino has the scudo (SMS) as official currency, but the lira is accepted.
There have been talks on the possible adoption of the lira, as the scudo is generally deemed as worthless outside of San Marino (and surrounding zones which accept the scudo). Gian Carlo Capicchioni, Sammarinese Secretary for Finances, declared that the possibility of adopting the common currency "is not completely implausible".
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