Industry head says ‘unrealistic’ to expect Czech euro entry before 2013

The head of the Czech Confederation of Industry, Jaroslav Míl, has said that he thinks it is unrealistic to talk about the country’s entry in the European single currency before 2013 at the earliest. In an interview with Václav Moravec for Czech Television, Mr Míl said that the government should set a date for euro adoption, but stressed that adoption of the common currency would not be possible before overhauling further the healthcare and pensions systems. The Czech Finance Ministry planned to have the Czech Republic ready for euro-entry by 2012, but that date has been postponed indefinitely. Governor of the Czech National Bank, Zdeněk Tůma, has said that the country could feasibly adopt the single European currency as late as in 2019.