Koruna Unchained Empowers Czechs on Path to Western Riches
- Rising currency means cheaper beach vacations for tourists
- Most major companies protected with hedging, exporters say
A vendor holds 100 Czech koruna banknotes at a vegetable stall in Holesovicka market hall in central Prague, Czech Republic.
Photographer: Martin Divisek/BloombergTwenty-seven years after the end of communism and then a painful transition to market economy, Czechs suddenly are feeling a bit wealthier.
The central bank in Prague Thursday removed the cap that had artificially kept the koruna weak against the euro for more than three years -- just as many Czechs are booking their summer beach holidays on the azure European coasts of their favorite destinations. While the removal of the currency shackles was almost a non-event on the financial markets, compared with the mayhem Switzerland caused when it ended a similar peg policy two years ago, Czechs reveled in the benefits of an appreciating currency.