Foreign Exchange Risk Management in SME in the Czech Republic

摘要

The paper is focused on the topic of currency risk management. Many companies are facing the problem of hedging foreign exchange risk under the exigent circumstances of current financial crisis. The Czech economy is relatively open and export-oriented, which gives wide range for currency risk and potential losses. The aim of the paper is to find out and analyze, if Small and Middle Enterprises (SMEs) in the Czech Republic were using financial derivates for hedging foreign exchange risk and which ones. The questioner survey was processed by basic statistical methods. This research outlines the issue of hedging, which could be either financially unattainable or much too difficult for many SMEs in the Czech Republic. The trend of CZK/EUR in 2012, mainly affected by the financial crisis in Eurozone, gives more opportunities for using financial derivates such as forwards, currency options and swaps to protect assets and liabilities against higher exchange rate volatility. SMEs in the Czech Republic seem to act conservatively thereby using well-proven contracts and only if necessary.