hTIn 2003, the Czech Republic had already committed itself to establishing the euro as a main currency. We are talking about the commitment made in the accession treaty before joining the European Union, which followed a year later. However, even after twenty years, the country did not switch to the euro as the main currency.
The Czech koruna (CZK) continues to be used as the main currency in the country, and the government has not yet set a deadline for switching to the euro. But at the same time, in Slovakia, this event happened much faster. The euro has officially entered circulation there since 2009.
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The Czech Republic became a member of the European Union in May 2004, joining the EU in a nationwide referendum. Earlier, 77% of the citizens who took part in the voting agreed with this. Initially, the intention of Czech politicians and economists to adopt the euro as the main currency was in 2010.
Economic statistics in 2006 showed that this goal is unrealistic. The government failed to meet the necessary economic parameters set by the Europe Union countries. Politicians then talked about 2015 as a new deadline. However, none of them were fulfilled in the year of the introduction of the euro. Currently, the government is following the recommendations of the National Bank of Czech Republic and the Ministry of Finance has decided to no longer set a fixed date for the transition to the euro. The government made this decision in December 2022, CTK news reports.
The Government considers the incomplete process of economic convergence of the Czech economy as an obstacle to joining the monetary union. Especially in the area of prices and wages, which are much weaker in comparison with the average for the eurozone. The structure of the Czech economy is also significantly different from the eurozone, which may cause problems in the case of a united monetary policy. Due to the aging of the population, the problems of long-term sustainability of public finances are not being solved.
