Listening Comprehension

The single currency will make it more obvious if prices are different and consumers will be able to choose where to shop.
One important drawback of the cash changeover is the cost, especially to business - changing bank accounts, shop tills and all the vending machines and parking meters.
But many of the economic effects are already with us. The Euro made its debut in the financial markets three years ago and it has been an option for any non-cash transaction ever since.
Another benefit for business is the elimination of currency risk in the Euro area - the possibility that you might lose money in cross border trade because of exchange rate movements. That too came three years ago, when the conversion rates for the national currencies were fixed.
It's also three years since the Euro countries lost the power to set their own independent interest rates, a job that is now done for all of them by the European Central Bank. As expected, it has proved to be difficult for the Bank to get it right for all countries all the time.
Germany in particular could probably do with rather lower interest rates to stimulate an economic recovery.