The Czech National Bank (CNB) has objected to a statement by Prime Minister Andrej Babis on national television that it should share its profit with the state, stressing it is independent of any public administration body, said CNB spokesperson Marketa Fiserova, the Czech News Agency reported on April 17. 

According to Babis, “the CNB has huge reserves, so it could share a little bit of profit with us,” he said on Czech Television on April 16, adding that the bank should also consider lowering its basic interest rates further. 

Fiserova objected, saying that the central bank's independence, like that of the press and the courts, is one of the hallmarks of a mature democracy. Along with openness and expertise, independence is one of the three basic CNB principles.

“According to the current legislative, the Czech National Bank, the Bank Board as a whole and any member of the bank board are forbidden to receive or ask for any requests from the president, government, parliament, administrative authorities or any other entity,” she said.

Fiserova also noted that, according to legislation, the CNB bank board decided to use last year's profit of CZK57.9bn (€2.1bn) to cover part of the accounting loss from previous years; thus the PM's proposal is against the law. 

The CNB lowered its interest rates on March 26 to mitigate the impact of the situation around the new coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic on Czech companies. It has decreased its two-week repo rate by 75 basis points to 1.00%, the Lombard rate to 2.00% and the discount rate to 0.05%.