Government decides not to set euro adoption date

The Czech government has taken the advice of the Finance Ministry and the governor of the central bank and decided not to set a date for adopting the common European currency, Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek said on Wednesday. That means the Czech Republic will not sign up next year to ERM-II, the exchange rate mechanism which is a major step towards full euro adoption. Several Czech business leaders have called for the introduction of the euro, as the strong Czech crown has had a negative impact on exports. Neighbouring Slovakia joins the eurozone on January 1.