AVAILABLE FORMS OF MONEY IN PAYMENT TURNOVER VERSUS ECONOMIC GROWTH OF THE VISEGRAD GROUP COUNTRIES

Abstract

The aim of the informal association of Central-Easter Europe countries known as the Visegrad Group functioning within the European Union is to develop and deepen collaboration based on their common cultural grounds and common turbulent past behind the Iron Curtain under the communist regime after WWII. One of the pillars of this association is cooperation in the economic sphere which is based on free market principles re-established in the region after the political transformation which took place at the end of the 1980s. The economic sphere is closely connected with the payment system whose basic constituent is money. Currently there are three available forms of money: cash money, non-cash money and electronic money. Out of all Visegrad countries, which at the same time happen to be a part of the European Union since 1 May 2004, only Slovakia adopted EURO as its currency, while other countries in the group i.e. Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic retained their national currencies. The Visegrad countries display considerable differences with respect to the usage of available forms of money and to the pace of changes occurring in the payment areas of particular Visegrad countries. The differences just mentioned result from various social and economic conditions. The paper presents the distribution of different forms of money in the payment turnover in the relevant countries in the context of their economic growth.