PRAGUE – The Czech Republic’s incoming finance minister has raised the possibility that the country might adopt the euro, Europe’s common currency.
Andrej Babis, a billionaire businessman who is expected to take the finance post when the new government is sworn in by the end of the month, said Wednesday he has “no problem” with using the euro. He gave no timeframe, however.
The previous centre-right governments had no target date for adopting the euro, which the country had agreed to use once it’s ready.
Babis, the leader of the centrist ANO (Yes) movement, has signed a deal with October’s parliamentary election winner — the leftist Social Democrats — and the centrist Christian Democrats to form a centre-left government.
EU countries using the euro are major trading partners for the Czechs.
