Tuesday News Briefing

NEWS  

TREATY The Nečas government has moved to freeze the ratification process of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), which the Czech Republic signed in Tokyo last month along with 21 other European Union countries. MPs have voiced grave concerns with the agreement, intended to protect copyright holders against piracy and counterfeiting, since some 1,000 protesters demonstrated against the treaty last week, the daily Lidové noviny (LN) reported Feb. 6.  

WELFARE Labor and Social Affairs Minister Jaromír Drábek is due to present a report on the functioning of a new payment system for welfare and unemployment benefits Feb. 7, the Czech News Agency (ČTK) reported. The system has been criticized by labor office workers and the opposition Social Democratic Party (ČSSD), who say it malfunctions, doesn't adequately protect citizen data and almost failed to pay out January benefits on time.  

NORTH KOREA Police say Communist Party (KSČM) Chairman Vojtěch Filip did not break the law when he sent his condolences to North Korea following the December death of leader Kim Jong-Il, LN reported Feb. 6. According to media reports, Filip wrote an official letter in which he said the KSČM firmly believed "the Korean labor party will continue to lead its courageous fight for the defense of socialism."  

BUSINESS  

EXPORTS The country posted record export growth in 2011, with the volume of goods sold abroad up just over 10 percent year on year, according to the Czech Statistical Office. Companies exported goods amounting to around 3 trillion Kč, according to Prime Minister Petr Nečas, who, along with Industry and Trade Minister Martin Kuba, unveiled a new export strategy Feb. 7 that seeks to cut reliance on exports to the weakened eurozone by expanding in Asia and to involve more small and midsize companies so as not to rely on just a few large players.

NATIONAL DEBT In the third quarter of last year, the Czech Republic was among the best countries in the EU in terms of debt-to-GDP ratio, the daily Právo reported. The country ranked in the top seven with a debt rate of 39.8 percent of GDP. The best was Estonia with 6.1 percent, while the worst were Greece with 159.1 percent and Italy with 119.6 percent.

INDUSTRY Industrial production is back to pre-crisis levels, new data from the Czech Statistical Office shows. Production rose year on year 6.9 percent in 2011, returning to levels last seen in 2007. Automobile production carried the sector with year-on-year growth of 21.2 percent. Analysts, however, expect production output growth to slow to 2 percent or even dip into negative territory this year.

WEATHER

Prague, Czech Republic; chance of snow; High: -9 C, Low: -14 C  

News Desk can be reached at
news@praguepost.com