Fischer says repayment of election debt was above-board

Finance Minister Jan Fischer said on Wednesday that he had produced sufficient proof that the repayment of his presidential election campaign debt was above-board and now considered the matter closed. The new finance minister came under widespread criticism for accepting over five million crowns from sponsors to repay the said debt soon after it became known that he would get a lucrative post in the new cabinet. A large part of the money was moreover contributed in cash. The finance minister was forced to reveal the identity of his sponsors who stipulated that the money was a gift from their own private funds and the finance minister was not obliged to them in any way. Prime Minister Jiří Rusnok has accepted the finance minister’s explanation.