2024-01-07 21:15:00
The Trade and Tourism Association supports the adoption of the euro in the Czech Republic. Union president Tomáš Prouza told ČTK that merchants pay for most imported goods in euros. According to him, the fact that the Czech Republic does not have the euro means billions of extra costs for them due to payments for currency exchange and securing the exchange rate. The President of the Agrarian Chamber of the Czech Republic, Jan Doležal, told ČTK that he is cautious about adopting the euro. He also sees the reduction of exchange costs as an advantage, he mentioned the loss of the Czech Republic’s monetary independence as a disadvantage. According to president Dana Večeřová, the Food Chamber of the Czech Republic will also deal with the topic of adopting the euro.
The Agrarian Chamber and the Food Chamber mention as a positive that exchange rate losses will be avoided. According to Doležal, this could support an increase in the competitiveness of farmers on the European market. “At the same time, it must be said that we are now losing because we have to transfer subsidies from the EU to the koruna. Last year alone, Czech farmers lost roughly ten percent of their subsidies due to the strong koruna, which is a really large amount,” he added. He also noted that the Czech Republic undertook to adopt the euro in a completely different economic situation than it is now, and the price level in countries paying with the euro is generally higher than in the Czech Republic.
According to him, the possible negative effects of the adoption of the euro on the agricultural sector could be mitigated by the government taking steps that would bring the prices of agricultural products in the Czech Republic closer to those in the eurozone. because Czech producers are priced below the European average for a number of commodities.
As an argument for the adoption of the euro, Prouza stated that if companies could eliminate the costs of currency exchange or exchange rate hedging, it would also lead to lower prices in stores. “Easier price comparison would also help customers, especially in border areas, so that they do not have to recalculate prices when shopping abroad. In addition, we are convinced that thanks to the initiated consolidation of public finances, we can, for example, enter the ERM II system on July 1, 2024, and adopt the euro on January 1, 2027. Public finances will already be ready for this without any problems,” he added.
“Given the current discussion, we as the Food Chamber will certainly analyze the impact of the introduction of the euro on the Czech food industry in detail,” added Dana Večeřová, president of the Food Chamber of the Czech Republic.
The Union of Industry and Transport has been promoting the adoption of the euro for a long time.
Dana Večeřová/Jan Doležal/Tomáš Prouza | Flash, Flash News
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