The Government Discusses the Czech Republic’s Updated Euro-area Accession Strategy

Ministry of Finance - Press Department - press release

At its meeting on Wednesday, the Government approved an update of the Czech Republic's Euro-area Accession Strategy, originally prepared in 2003. The Strategy is a joint document of the Government and the CNB.

As the original Strategy has not been fulfilled, the Government and the Czech National Bank have prepared a document taking into account domestic and external developments since the original text was approved (October 2003) and describing the Czech Republic's ability to operate in the euro area.

Based on an overall assessment of the ability of the Czech economy to operate in the euro area, the document states that some of the preconditions for benefiting from the adoption of the single currency have already been met, while others have yet to achieve satisfactory parameters. The main obstacle to the fulfilment of the Maastricht criteria remains the unconsolidated state of public finances. This, coupled with the low flexibility of the economy, and especially the labour market, simultaneously presents a risk to the operation of the Czech economy in the euro area and prevents it from reaping the benefits associated with adopting the euro.

The euro adoption date will therefore depend on resolving these problem areas in a fundamental reform of public finances and on enhancing the flexibility of the Czech economy. The Government therefore sets itself the task of making maximum reform efforts to remove these obstacles by the end of its term of office.

The full text of the updated Strategy will be published on the websites of the Ministry of Finance and the Czech National Bank.

The Czech Republic's Updated Euro-area Accession Strategy (pdf, 47 kB)

Ondřej Jakob, MF ČR spokesperson, ondrej .jakob @mfcr .cz
Pavlína Bolfová, CNB spokesperson, pavlina .bolfova @cnb .cz