The Prague Post
July 5th, 2008
Reader's SurveyNEW     Endowment Fund     Book of Lists ONLINE      Reservations      Classifieds    Subscriptions
Prague accommodation

Home » Archives » Banking & Finance

In Brief

News & Notes
News & notes | Search restaurants | Archives

EURO The Czech Republic will not be able to adopt the euro by 2012 unless it passes further reforms of the pension and public health insurance systems, Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek said Oct. 4. Without these reforms, the deficit will crawl back to unacceptable levels by 2009, he said. Kalousek has sought 2012 as a hard deadline for adoption, but the government has rejected any such deadline.

UPGRADED The credit rating service Standard & Poor’s raised its rating of the Czech crown for foreign trading from “A-/A-2” to “A/A-1,” to the company announced Oct. 2. The upgrade was caused by the government’s recently passed public-finance reform. The Czech Republic’s midterm economic prospects remain healthy, the company said.
DEFICIT The deficit decreased from 3.49 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2005 to 2.69 percent in 2006, the Czech Statistical Office reported Oct. 1. The deficit figures for 2006 are lower than the office first reported earlier this year, when it was set at 2.95 percent GDP. The 2007 deficit is expected to increase to about 3.6 percent GDP.
CAPITAL The number of domestic firms owned by foreigners increased by almost 5,000 companies compared to last year, up to 32,000 firms, according to a recent Dun & Bradstreet study. The Netherlands, Germany and the United Kingdom are the most common foreign owners, controlling local capital worth 247.5 billion Kč ($12.7 billion), 180 billion Kč and 125.5 billion Kč, respectively.
FUNDS Pension funds of some of the country’s biggest companies saw 5.7 percent yearly average yields over the past 10 years. ČSOB Progres and Generali PF saw the best returns, according to Finanční poradce magazine, while yields of PF České spořitelny and Allianz PF funds were the lowest, at 4.7 percent and 4.8 percent, respectively. Inflation eroded the gains to about 1.34 percent per year over the past seven years in real terms, however, the magazine reported.
RATES Czech National Bank benchmark interest rates remain unchanged at 3.25 percent, after a meeting Oct. 4, according to the Czech News Agency, even though analysts say the bank will raise rates this year as inflation grows. The Czech Republic has the lowest interest rates in the European Union. The benchmark rate has gone up three times in the past six months, most recently by a quarter percentage point at the end of August.


survey banner


Other articles in Banking & Finance (10/10/2007):

Browse the Current Issue

If you enjoyed this article, why don't you subscribe to the print version!
We accept secure online transactions provided by PayPal and Moneybookers

Be the first to add a comment!


Full Name: *
City: *
E-mail: **
This comment can be published in the print version of The Prague Post
Enter the text on the right:
 visual captcha
Comment: *
* Required field. In order to be approved for display, comments must have a first and last name and a city.
** E-mails are required and will only be used for internal purposes.

Most visited in Book of Lists

Hotel booking
The Prague Post Online contains a selection of articles that have been printed in
The Prague Post, a weekly newspaper published in the Czech Republic.
To subscribe to the print paper, click here.
Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.