Economy of Greece Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC). The country joined what is now the European Union in 1981. In 2001 Greece adopted the euro as its currency, replacing the Greek drachma at an exchange rate of 340.75 drachmae per euro. Greece is a member of the International Monetary Fund and of the World Trade Organization, and ranked 34th on Ernst & Young's Globalization Index 2011. World War II (1939-1945) devastated the country's economy, but the high levels of economic growth that followed from 1950 to 1980 have been called the Greek economic miracle. From 2000 Greece saw high levels of GDP growth above
History of the euro 50,000 pay phones to take Deutsche Mark coins in 2005, at least on a temporary basis. Callers were allowed to use DM coins, at least initially, with the Mark pegged to equal one euro, almost twice the usual rate. In France, receipts still indicate the value of products in the legacy currency along with the euro value, as do receipts in Slovenia. In other eurozone countries this has long been considered unnecessary. In June 2008, "The New York Times" reported that many merchants in the French town of Collobrières, in Provence, choose to accept exchangeable franc notes. After dropping to