It will stop making 1- and 2-cent coins, following Finns and Dutch

Belgium is to stop producing one- and two-euro cent coins, following in the footsteps of euro zone partners Finland and the Netherlands, the finance minister, Didier Reynders, said Thursday.

Reynders, announcing the end of production from next year, said that the small coins were too expensive as a way of paying, as well as being a nuisance for shoppers.

The Belgian Central Bank confirmed last month that it was thinking of the move. "These coins do not circulate because their nominal value is too low," and "the cost of maintaining them is too high compared to their value," one of the bank's officials said.

Any decision to scrap the coins outright can only be made by the European Central Bank, the guardian of the euro, which is in use in 12 EU member states.

But individual member states are responsible for minting the currency, and Finland and the Netherlands are already discouraging the use of the one-and two-cent pieces because of their nuisance factor.

The Belgian Central Bank is expected to follow their example by telling retailers to round up or down the total price paid at cash registers, under legislation introduced to implement the change from their old currencies to the euro.

Belgium has 750 million of the one- and two-cent pieces in circulation, amounting to 30 percent of all its euro coins.

Dutch shopkeepers started rounding prices to the nearest five cents in September. The move is expected to save banks and retailers €30 million, or $36.5 million, a year in counting and transporting costs. (AFP, Reuters)

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