Czech Koruna - CZK

The Czech Koruna (CZK, « koruna ceska » in Czech) has been the national currency of the Czech Republic since February, 8th 1993, when it replaced the Czechoslovakian Koruna (with the initial parity with the Slovak Koruna) after the dissolution of the Czechoslovakian Socialist Republic.

The Czechoslovakian Koruna dated from 1919 and of the separation of the first Czechoslovakian Republic with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and it became the official currency of Czechoslovakia from 1948.

Whereas Slovakia joined the Euro area in 2009, Czech Republic, a member of the European Union since 2004, is still not member of the Euro area.

The Czech Koruna didn’t integrate the ERM II system (Exchange Rate Mechanism II), even if the Czech Republic acceded the convergence criterion defined by the Maastricht Treaty ( and specified by the Amsterdam and Nice Treaties).

Initially, the Czech Republic was to enter the Euro area (and in doing so, adopt the Euro as national currency) in 2012, but the process had been suspended by the government in 2007 as there was a clear opposition of the mayor part of the Czechs.

Floating since 1997, the Czech Koruna (CZK) clearly apprised against the Euro from March 2004 (EUR/CZK = 33.171) to July 2008 (EUR/CZK = 22.968) thanks to the disinflation process observed during this period in Czech Republic, directly linked to the convergence criterion. The worsening of the worldwide financial crisis during the Fall of 2008, made the Czech Koruna lose ground against the Euro for the fist time for four years, before the EUR/CZK parity decreased again (and the Czech Koruna apprised against) from February 2009.