Finance Minister Andrej Babiš has revealed his ministry placed state funds into commercial banks in the Czech Republic. In a recent TV interview, he claimed the state has earned CZK 45m from the investment over the last three months, in part because of the weakened Czech crown.
The finance ministry invested with 10 Czech-based banks, including Česká spořitelna and Komerční banka. The step received mixed reactions from economists who warn that investing state money into commercial banks is much more risky than depositing the money in the central bank. Babiš argues, however, that Czech banks are “the best in Europe” and are “stuffed with money”. Moreover, he told the ČTK, the return is “guaranteed, like bonds.” Babiš plans to generate CZK 150m by investing state money in 2014.
