A good rate
Slovak Finance Minister Jan Počiatek sees the establishment of the final conversion rate as a "great success for Slovakia and its people". Even though the government had supported a stronger exchange rate, Počiatek is "maximally comfortable" because the final rate borders "the maximum appreciation of the koruna" and "will not harm the interests of the people," he said at a press conference in Brussels after the Council meeting.
What's more, an exchange rate of 30.126 "takes into account the most recent developments and creates good conditions for sustainable economic growth in future," the minister said. Slovak Central Bank Governor Ivan Šramko added that the conversion rate will "tame inflationary pressures" after the euro is adopted.
Confidential information scandal
The Slovak finance minister said nobody at the Ecofin Council meeting had asked him about the scandal relating to an alleged leak to an influential Slovak investment group of sensitive information on the planned move of the central parity rate. "Nobody deals with this here in Brussels. It is a local issue," the minister said.
The Slovak press recently claimed that EU Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia had said that ethical and legal provisions had been violated. But his spokesperson Amelia Torres explained that Almunia had been misquoted and in fact said that any potential rule breaches would have to be investigated by the national authorities. Speaking to EurActiv, she explained that there are no EU-wide rules on insider trading of privileged information.
"We are following the issue with the same degree of interest as the press," she said, implying that the Commission does not have the legal base or the instruments to do more.
Governor Šramko said the report on the investigation into the alleged information leak will be published in September. Minister Počiatek himself received a 'yellow card' from the prime minister, signalling a political warning.
Good or bad timing?
Počiatek told the press that Slovakia is not entering the euro zone at the best time: "Our position is not favourable because inflation reigns all around," he said, explaining that this would make it harder to explain to citizens that price rises are not caused by the conversion to the euro.
But Šramko expressed a different view, saying "the timing is good" because turbulence in world markets "always affect mostly small currencies". Therefore the euro could be an efficient stabilising factor, he explained.
