New members of the EU will not form an optimum currency area with the present eurozone member states. The article discusses some costs and benefits of an early EMU entry for the Czech Republic (and other Central-European economies). The authors concentrate on the consequences of loss of...

In small open economies, external factors exert a strong influence on the autonomy and efficiency of domestic monetary policies. For the Czech National Bank, no exchange rate regime can guarantee a lasting degree of policy autonomy. Within the present CNB's strategy of direct inflation...

Accession countries are bound by EU rules to enter the eurozone after they have fulfilled the Maastricht criteria. Yet for many years, the eurozone will not constitute an optimum currency area for the new members. There are additional risks connected with low relative economic levels - as well...