19/11/2010 : The Czech and Slovak economies: 17 years after

The Czech Republic and Slovakia are economically, geographically and culturally very close. Notwithstanding many similarities, there are also important differences resulting from 17 years of independent economic policies and development. This seminar focused on both countries' macroeconomic, fiscal and structural challenges in a comparative manner and discussed a variety of topical issues such as the implications of the different currency regimes on competitiveness, fiscal consolidation strategies or differences in labour market performance.

The seminar itself was organised in three sessions with the following key topics:

• Competitiveness of the Czech and Slovak economy in the post-crisis world: current situation and future challenges
• Fiscal adjustment from the Czech and Slovak perspective
• Structural policies for growth: what reforms are needed to improve the growth potential of the Czech and Slovak economy?

Each session had three key speakers: the first speaker provided a comparative overview of the relevant issues in both countries, the other two speakers discussed the topic from the Czech and Slovak perspective. Panellists then followed up with their own reactions, answering also questions from the chair and the audience.

Participation and interventions at the seminar were made under the so-called "Chatham House Rule", whereby participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker, nor that of any other participant, may be revealed. The aim of following this procedure was to encourage openness and the sharing of information.

Conference documents - Copyright rests with the authors
Programme(26 kB)
SESSION I: Competitiveness of the Czech and Slovak economies in the post-crisis world: current situation and future challenges
Key speakers:
	MICHAL MEJSTŘÍK(3 MB)  ,Chairman of the Institute of Economic Studies, Charles University in Prague
	ZUZANA MURGAŠOVÁ(5 MB)  , Mission Chief for the Czech Republic, IMF
	MARK DE BROECK(2 MB)  , Mission Chief for Slovakia, IMF
Panellists:
	JURAJ KOTIAN(158 kB)  , Head of Macro/Fixed Income Research, Erste Group
	PETR ZAHRADNÍK(35 kB)  , Project Manager, EU Office Česká spořitelna
SESSION II: Fiscal adjustment from the Czech and Slovak perspective
Key Speakers:
	ELENA REITANO(2 MB)  , acting Head of Unit, DG ECFIN
	JAN GREGOR(410 kB)  , Deputy Minister, Ministry of Finance, Czech Republic
	JAN TÓTH(236 kB)  , Chief Economist, Ministry of Finance, Slovakia
Panellists:
	JURAJ VALACHY(107 kB)  , Senior Analyst, Tatra Banka, Slovakia
	TOMÁŠ HOLUB(59 kB)  , Executive Director, Czech National Bank
	PHILIPP ROTHER(136 kB)  , Head of Section, European Central Bank
SESSION III: Structural policies for growth: what reforms are needed to improve the growth potential of the Czech and Slovak economies?
Key speakers:
	ROBERT FORD(4 MB)  , Deputy Director, Country Studies Branch, OECD
	MARTIN KAHANEC(106 kB)  , Assistant Professor, Department of Public Policy, Central European University
	LUDĚK NIEDERMAYER(440 kB)  , Director for Consulting Services, Deloitte Czech Republic
Panellists:
	MARTIN ŠUSTER(114 kB)  , Director of Research Department, National Bank of Slovakia
	HELENA HORSKÁ(198 kB)  , Chief Analyst, Raiffeisen Bank, Czech Republic

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