Zdeněk Tůma

Zdeněk Tůma
Zdeněk Tůma
Born	October 19, 1960 (age 66); České Budějovice, Czechoslovakia
Occupation	Economist
Years active	1983–present
Known for	Governor of the Czech National Bank (2000–2010)

Adapted from the English Wikipedia article Zdeněk Tůma, available under CC BY-SA 4.0Updated 11 August 2025

Zdeněk Tůma (born 19 October 1960) is a distinguished Czech economist who held the position of Governor at the Czech National Bank (CNB) between 2000 and 2010. Afterward, from 2011 until 2019, he transitioned to the private sector with KPMG Czech Republic. Since 2019, he has been serving as the chairman of the supervisory board for the ČSOB Group.

Education and Academic Career

Originating from České Budějovice, Czechoslovakia, Tůma completed his studies at the Business Academy in České Budějovice before enrolling at the University of Economics in Prague from 1979 to 1983. He subsequently spent three years as a lecturer there. In 1986, he began working as a researcher at the Institute of Forecasting within the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, simultaneously pursuing postgraduate economics education from 1987 to 1992.

Later, he joined the Institute of Economic Studies at Charles University in Prague, where he was appointed head of the Department of Macroeconomics and earned the title of associate professor in 1995. He continues to teach at this institution and has participated on various scientific and administrative boards across Czech universities such as Charles University, Czech Technical University in Prague, and Prague University of Economics and Business. Since 2000, Tůma has been a Board of Governors member—and since 2018, Vice-Chairman—at The English College in Prague.

International Academic Engagements

During the early 1990s, Zdeněk Tůma undertook academic visits at several prominent global institutions, including the London School of Economics, University of Cambridge (UK), the Tinbergen Institute in Amsterdam (Netherlands), and George Mason University located in Washington, DC (USA).

Professional Activities in the 1990s

From 1993 to 1995, Tůma served as an advisor to the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade under Minister Vladimír Dlouhý. Subsequently, he assumed the role of chief economist at Patria Finance a.s., a position he held until 1998. Beginning in June 1998, he was Executive Director at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development before joining the Czech National Bank (CNB) in early 1999.

Tenure at the CNB (1999–2010)

In February 1999, President Václav Havel appointed Tůma as Vice Governor of the CNB, and by December 2000, he advanced to Governor. His mandate was renewed for six years by President Václav Klaus in 2005. Throughout his governorship, he managed monetary policy, financial market oversight, foreign currency reserves, payment infrastructures, and currency processing operations.

Between 2000 and 2010, Tůma acted as the Czech Republic’s representative at both the International Monetary Fund and Bank for International Settlements. Following the country's accession to the European Union in 2004, he became a member of the General Council of the European System of Central Banks. Additionally, he led the Czech Economic Society as its President from 1999 until 2001.

On 15 April 2010, Tůma declared his intention to resign as CNB Governor effective from 30 June that year; his resignation was formally submitted to President Klaus on 18 June. Miroslav Singer succeeded him in this role.

Political Involvement

During the 2010 Prague municipal election, Tůma was TOP 09’s lead candidate and ran for mayor. Between 2011 and 2012, he chaired the Finance Committee within Prague City Council. On 15 October 2014, amid internal party conflicts, he resigned from TOP 09 and shifted his political support toward Prague Mayor Tomáš Hudeček.

KPMG and ČSOB

In 2011, Tůma re-entered the private sector by joining the Czech branch of audit and consulting firm KPMG as a Partner. His role focused on financial sector services, including consultancy related to sports, lotteries, and gaming industries. He departed from KPMG in 2019 to assume the position of Chairman of the Supervisory Board at ČSOB a.s., taking over from Pavel Kavánek.

Other activities

Between 2011 and 2019, he held the position of Chairman of the Board for the CERGE-EI Foundation, which promotes economic education and research initiatives.
Since 2016, he has been a member of the Supervisory Board for the Committee of Good Will – Olga Havlová Foundation.
He served on the board of directors from 2012 to 2013 and resumed participation as a member of the supervisory board of the international non-profit Aspen Institute Central Europe starting in 2021.
From 2020 until 2023, he was part of the Presidium of the Czech Banking Association (CBA).
Between 2002 and 2016, he acted as a trustee on the board of the Museum Kampa – Jan and Meda Mládek Foundation.
Since 2020, he has been managing director at IRQ management s.r.o. and chairs the supervisory board of IRQ FUNDS SICAV a.s.
Beginning in 2021, he joined the board of the Global Institute for Macroprudential Modeling, which specializes in macroeconomic research and macro-financial modeling.
In 2022, he was recognized as a Fellow by the College of Central Bankers.
He serves on the Supervisory Board of The Bakala Foundation, an organization dedicated to supporting youth development programs in journalism, architecture, and international studies.
During President Petr Pavel’s election campaign in 2022–2023, Tůma acted as an economic advisor.
Additionally, he holds a position on the Supervisory Board of Hungary’s K&H Bank.

External links

Catalogue of works by or related to Zdeněk Tůma in the National Library of the Czech Republic database
Zdeněk Tůma featured on Otázky Václava Moravce, a Czech Television discussion program
Interview published by Roklen 24