Prague, 21 July 2026
The governor of the Czech National Bank (CNB), Ales Michl, has spoken out against a rapid Czech accession to the eurozone and warned against a politically motivated course change at the expense of price stability.
Michl explained his position on Monday in Prague with reference to the monetary policy that a flexible exchange rate of the koruna makes possible. "I like flexible exchange rates, and the appreciation of the koruna is an instrument for fighting inflation," he said. In his assessment, a premature abandonment of this instrument would limit the central bank's ability to respond to economic shocks.
Michl's argument: flexible koruna as an inflation brake
The background is a debate in the Czech Republic about the timing of a possible euro adoption. While President Petr Pavel had argued that it is "eindeutig besser, mit am Tisch zu sitzen, an dem die Entscheidungen getroffen werden, als vor der Tür zu warten", Michl sees monetary policy independence as an advantage. He pointed out that countries such as Denmark and Sweden had also clung to their own currencies for decades without falling behind economically.