The governor of the Czech National Bank Jiří Rusnok has given a wide-ranging interview to the daily Pravo. In it, he claims that the Czech koruna will strengthen slightly in the coming months, but not radically.
Rusnok told the daily that entry into the eurozone doesn’t make sense at the moment, since its current members are in the process of changing how it functions. “We need to look at the euro pragmatically. Entrance into the eurzone is more complicated than it was before the crisis. The eurozone underwent a stress test of its stability during the crisis. It survived, but with big problems. It has to change, which is why there are complicated debates over the reduction and sharing of risks. For this reason, there’s no reason to hurry into the eurozone. It’s always hard to hit a moving target. Let’s prepare for the reformed eurozone.”
Asked if Czech wages will ever reach those in Western Europe, Rusnok said the gap should gradually tighten, but said the key would be whether salaries would rise at a sensible pace. “The development of wages will be seriously influenced by the Czech labor market that’s running short of available labor. That speaks in favor of a rise in wages. But we have to maintain competitiveness. That’s why wages can’t rise more quickly than the economy grows.” He added that wage growth in some western European countries is barely keeping pace with inflation.
