The government will pay to the CNB a fee of 3% for conversion of CZK 50bn of privatization proceeds into CNB reserves. If the sum should increase to CZK 100bn, the fee would be 6% and for a larger amount the fee would be raised to 9%.
CNB Governor Zdenek Tuma said at yesterday's press conference, that the koruna should slightly depreciate after an announcement of the agreement with the government. However, the Czech currency should keep a trend of appreciation in the long run. Dealers on the FX market reacted at the second part of his statement and the koruna sharply appreciate from 32.35 CZK/EUR before the press conference to 32.18 CZK/EUR and in the evening the koruna was trading at 31.90 CZK/EUR. Currently, the exchange rate fluctuates around 31.63 CZK/EUR.
The German economy stagnated in the fourth quarter, following the U.S. and Japan into recession as slowing exports and a drop of investment were the main reasons of the weak German's economy performance. Europe's largest economy grew 0.6% in 2001, the slowest pace since 1993, after expanding 3% in 2000.
Argentina's central bank President Roque Maccarone resigned after a dispute with President Eduardo Duhalde over the devaluation of the peso. The bank's vice president, Mario Blejer, a former official at the International Monetary Fund, will replace Maccarone.
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