The Czech National Bank posted a 54bn crown loss last year, due to strong crown, decline in value of foreign reserves

The Czech National Bank (CNB) announced on Monday that it posted a record loss of nearly 54 billion crowns in 2004 - nearly three times the loss of the previous year - due to the decline in the value of the central bank's foreign reverses, by over one-third. The reason for the loss is that the Czech currency has continued to firm in recent years not only against the weakening US dollar but also against the common European currency, the euro.