FinMin Staikouras in Prague for Eurogroup, Ecofin

In particular, on Friday morning, he will take part in the informal meeting of eurozone finance ministers, in which Eurogroup members will exchange views with the chair of the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Policy Committee Irene Tinagli on macroeconomic developments in the eurozone, including of developments in the energy sector and inflation, as well as their implications for fiscal policy. Also, the European Central Bank (ECB) is expected to inform the ministers about the monetary policy decisions taken by its board of directors.

The minister will then participate in the meeting of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) board, where the procedures to nominate the new Executive Director of the ESM will continue.

This will be followed by an informal Eurogroup meeting, in which, based on data from the ECB and the European Commission, the finance ministers of the European Union will exchange views on the progress of the discussions on the digital euro and the work on digital currencies of central banks in member states that do not belong to the eurozone.

At noon, a working lunch of finance ministers will be held, during which ways to deal with Ukraine's economic needs due to Russia's military invasion will be discussed. Staikouras will then meet with the European Commissioner for Budget and Administration Johannes Hahn.

The finance minister will also participate in the informal Ecofin meeting, which will focus on the challenges from the economic impact of the war in Ukraine and ways to address them.