Two Maastricht convergence criteria met in 2023
Recently the debate on the euro adoption has been raised again in the Czech Republic.
The Czech Republic committed to adopting the single European currency when it entered the European Union. For this purpose, the main principles were described in a joint document prepared by the Czech government and the Czech National Bank (CNB), called The Czech Republic’s Euro-area Accession Strategy.
In line with this strategy, the Government and the CNB regularly assess whether the Czech Republic is ready for the euro adoption. Once a year the CNB performs detailed analyses which are published in the Analyses of the Czech Republic’s Current Economic Alignment with the Euro Area.
In December 2023, the Ministry of Finance and the CNB recommended that the Czech government should not set a target date for euro area entry for the time being, as in 2023 the Czech Republic was compliant with only two of four Maastricht convergence criteria which are required.
The unfinished process of economic convergence remains a major factor preventing early euro adoption. However, the high degree of transparency of the Czech economy and its close trade and ownership links within the euro area, are also strong arguments for adopting the euro as early as possible.
The Maastricht convergence criteria that the Czech Republic met in 2023 are Government sector debt and interest rate convergence.
