ACCIDENTS

Insurance companies have not seen any major decline in road accidents since the new traffic law in July created a system of penalty points for bad drivers, the Czech News Agency reported Dec. 17. Insurers attribute the decline in police statistics to drivers' unwillingness to report minor accidents for fear of being penalized. The police say that the number of traffic accidents fell by 10,500 since July, compared to the same period in 2005.

DEFICIT

President Václav Klaus signed a bill Dec. 15 increasing the 2006 state budget deficit by about 10 billion Kč ($475.5 million), money needed to make pension payments, Klaus' spokesman Petr Hájek said. He also signed a bill postponing the new illness benefits system until the beginning of 2008. Labor and Social Affairs Minister Petr Nečas and Finance Minister Vlastimil Tlustý said that the pension system would not have been able to make payments without the supplemental aid.

WASTE

Czech industry consumes too much raw material for its gross domestic product (GDP) output, the news server Aktualne.cz reported Dec. 17. The Czech Republic uses one ton of raw materials to produce 185 euros ($246/5,163 Kč) of GDP — making it six times less efficient than the average of the 15 original European Union countries. The output is also lower than Slovakia, Hungary and Poland.

LOANS

Building societies granted 20 percent more loans through November than they did during the same period in 2005. During the first 11 months of the year, they approved nearly 711,000 loans worth 48 billion Kč. Jiří Šedivý, of the Czech Association of Building Societies, said he expects the growth in volume to continue next year because people invest increasing amounts of money in housing.

LAYOFFS

Czech Airlines (ČSA) said it would lay off 200 staff members by April to save nearly 100 million Kč annually. Spokeswoman Daniela Hupáková said Dec. 18 the cut would reduce ČSA's workforce to 5,100. Some 142 employees accepted a buyout to leave the company in August. The dismissals are part of a long-term restructuring plan designed to return the company to profitability.

FOOD

Food prices may increase by an average of 5 percent in 2007, owing to higher energy and raw materials prices, Food Chamber president Jaroslav Camplík told reporters Dec. 18. The sugar market will be hit by Eastern Sugar's decision to close three Czech sugar refineries, which will turn the Czech Republic from a sugar exporter into an importer. The drop in sugar production may also increase prices for hard alcohol.

NOMURA

The management of state-run bailout agency ČKA is pushing ahead with plans to get a 6 billion Kč claim from the former managers of Japanese bank Nomura, Czech Television reported Dec. 18. The move runs counter to Finance Minister Tlustý's order to abandon any legal claims against Nomura. Chairman of the ČKA supervisory board Miloslav Kala said that the board's reaction to Tlustý's truce with Nomura was fierce.