Kalousek vs. Fiala

Ex-Finance Min. Miroslav Kalousek of TOP 09, who is turning out to be one of the main critics of the budgetary policy of the Fiala government, told Jaromír Soukup of TV Barrandov in May that if the industry minister of the Babiš government had spouted out something about spinning off part of ČEZ, he would have filed a criminal complaint. This is price-sensitive information, Kalousek said. It was actually Petr Fiala who made the statement, and it was only one of many market-moving comments by Fiala or his ministers about ČEZ or a tax on unexpected profits. Finance Min. Zbyněk Stanjura even spoke about a "brutal" rate that would make such a tax worth the political cost. ČEZ's shares have fluctuated widely as a result. This is where new CNB Gov. Aleš Michl could step in. If he wants to differentiate himself from Jiří Rusnok, he could take seriously his role as capital-markets regulator and investigate any suspicions of insider dealing, with or without a formal complaint from Kalousek.