UTRECHT, Netherlands (Dow Jones)--Dutch Central Bank President and European Central Bank governing council board member Nout Wellink said Monday he expected the introduction of the euro to add around a quarter of a percentage point to inflation in the Netherlands. Wellink based the estimate on a survey of 900 retailers. He added, however, that he expected the inflationary effects to be short term and that next year the euro could cause prices to fall by around 0.2 to 0.4 percentage point. Wellink was speaking at a news conference to mark the last stage of the introduction of the euro. The Dutch guilder formally ceased to exist as spendable cash Monday and the euro became sold legal tender in the country. Of the 12 countries to introduce euro cash Jan. 1, the Netherlands is the first to phase out its currency completely, requiring all cash and bank transactions to be conducted in euros as of Monday.