EUROPEAN Monetary Union is now only 525 working days away, participants at the European Finance Convention were told yesterday.

Irish businesses have not yet accepted that EMU will soon be a reality, according to Mr Ray Gray of accountants Price Waterhouse. At a seminar on the practical implications of a single European currency he urged business people to make provisions for the changes EMU would bring. "It is not just another currency, it is not like decimalisation and it is not simply a technical change. A single currency will happen and must be planned for. Doing nothing is not an option - and may carry a high cost," he warned.

Preparing for EMU had direct cost implications for all industries in the EU, he said. Companies that faced the inevitable and planned now for EMU would be the "direction setters" in their markets and would be best placed to take advantage of competitive opportunities in the single market. Companies that did not plan would have to make do with adopting "catch up" strategies, he warned.