Janota: huge aid package will affect the Czech Republic only indirectly

Finance Minister Eduard Janota has said that the massive financial aid package approved by the EU on Monday would have no direct effect on the Czech Republic. Speaking to reporters in Brussels, Mr Janota said that potential Czech participation in the package would only be indirect, via reserves in the existing EU budget. The meeting of the EU finance ministers calculated that the Czech Republic’s contribution to the package would total 4 billion euros annually. The 500-billion-euro package was approved by the ministers in order to rescue member states nearing bankruptcy – as has recently been the case with Greece – with an injection of up to 440 billion euros, and to calm the currently agitated financial markets.