Exporters harmed by strong crown

The Czech Exporters Association, which groups around 50 companies, has set up a crisis committee to coordinate efforts against the strengthening of the Czech crown. Exporters have suffered losses of around 15 to 20 billion crowns /530 -706 million euros/ as a result of a strengthening crown over the last few months. The association's president Jiri Grund predicted growing unemployment, possibly even bankruptcy of some exporters. Exporters say the government is directly responsible for their plight, which is further aggravated by the inaction of the Central Bank. Responding to the criticism, the Prime Minister said on Tuesday that exporters should be prepared to deal with the situation. He predicted earlier this month that the Czech currency would stand at 25 crowns per euro when the country adopted the single European currency in 2010.