PRAGUE, Reuters – Czech President Milos Zeman has appointed Ales Michl to the role of governor at the Central Bank. This is a move that opposes the recent tightening by the central bank in order to curb inflation.

Michl will take over from JiriRusnok as Governor.

Michl, 44 years of age, stated after his appointment that his principal goal was to get inflation down to the bank’s target of 2%. That is a reduction from the 15 percent he sees in the summer. A process he anticipated would take at least two years.

However, he stated that higher rates would not be an effective remedy as the main driver of inflation is energy prices.

According to him, “I anticipate interest rates at a level that will be adequate to control demand-driven inflation (when I assume over in July),” he stated.

“I am confident that I will make a proposal at the first meeting of the summer to stabilize interest rates. The impact of the monetary policy will be evaluated, along with new economic indicators. After that, we’ll decide how to proceed.