The Czech economic growth had decelerated in the second quarter on a sequential basis. Both domestic and foreign demand continues to still drive the economic growth. The most significant contributors continued to be household consumption, which added 1.6 percentage points because of the solid labor market and fixed investment expenditures, impacted by economic recovery in the Eurozone and a lack of new available employees in the Czech economy, which is compelling companies to invest more into robotization and increased automation of plants. Meanwhile, the contribution of net exports was a bit negative in the second quarter, as high demand for Czech exports was outweighed by imports for consumption and investment purposes. GDP is expected to come in at 3.5 percent in 2018, according to an Erste Group Research in a report. “In 2019 and 2020, we expect GDP growth to arrive at 3.0% and 2.9%, respectively. Although the economic development of solid domestic as well as foreign demand should continue, GDP growth will gradually slow down” stated Erste Group Research. Tighter monetary conditions might be important factors behind this development. Nevertheless, this development is unlikely to be a negative factor.“In fact, the Czech economy has been slightly overheated in 2018,...
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš has resolutely stated that Europe must fight for its culture and values amidst the destructive EU migration policy. Pointing out the recent riots in Germany are due to uncontrolled migration, leading to explosive situations. “Chemnitz is just right around the corner!” he said Sunday, describing the disorder that inundated the eastern German city after standoffs between pro and anti-migrant rallies there last week. “I’ve been thoroughly explaining that this is a fight to preserve our European civilization and culture. We don’t want to live in Africa or the Middle East here. We must fight for our values.” “Have you seen the pictures of migrant ships heading for tourist beaches? Europeans are shocked and frightened. The same thing happened in Chemnitz. There was not only a murder committed but also the murders of teenage girls and sexual assaults,” Babiš explained. Babiš stressed on Czech TV channel Prima that the events in Chemnitz exhibit the result of the influx of migrants clashing with native-born citizens. These cases are very dangerous for Europe as tensions in Germany can also affect neighboring countries, he said. Reiterating his long-standing opposition to the European Commission’s efforts of forced migration, he lambasted the current...
Many money transfers from one bank to another often aren’t accomplished on the same day, and Czech banking law allows them to happen on the following business day. But banks have been starting to change that. Some Czech banks have been voluntarily starting to speed up the process to allow transfers posted in the morning to be completed in the afternoon, without the client having to pay a priority or premium fee. And in the near future, some banks will be experimenting with interbank transfers in real time, with no delay even on weekends. Read the full article here (via Prague.TV)
Private companies own almost half the total area of Prague, while the city only owns 30%. Deputy Mayor, Petra Kolinska, says that private companies own too much of the city, and this is inhibiting progressive development. “Prague should buy, not sell,” said Kolinska about its land usage issue. Privately owned companies are a critical aspect to development, providing business opportunities and funding for public projects. The more money in circulation, the more money there is available for development. However, this is a simple and limited view on public development. While private ownership promotes development, this approach ultimately leads to private entities owning a significant portion of Prague. Significant private ownership limits the city’s ability to develop. “Land ownership gives the city the possibility to actively develop these areas – the possibility of placing specific public buildings, reserving areas for schools, hospitals, parks or afforestation. Land owned by the city is one of the important prerequisites for the development and construction of the necessary public infrastructure,” according to a press release by the city of Prague. While being pro-business generates money, minimal funding goes towards public goods, such as schools and hospitals. If the city does not own the land, it’s severely...
Many expats can participate in the municipal elections, scheduled for Oct. 5–6. The local elections are not only in Prague but across the country and the same rules apply. European Union citizens with residence permits can vote, and they can also run for some local offices including City Council, but not the mayor. In practice, though, running for office is a bit complicated as a signed petition is needed to get on the ballot. The system is also geared toward parties and registered movements or associations, and not individual candidates. The voting rights come from an EU treaty and European Council directive. Read the full article here (via Prague.TV)
The Financial Administration is actively seeking data and searching for analytical activities from Internet platforms such as Airbnb, Booking, and Uber. “If we have indications that some income has not been properly taxed, we will ask the entities to file a tax return. However, additional taxation is already linked to a sanction in line with the Tax Code,” GFŘ spokesman Petr Habáň told Novinka. Revenue from the accommodation acquired via Airbnb, Booking, Uber, and other Internet platforms is subject FS income tax and must be included in the tax return. In the event that the rental over Airbnb or Booking exceeds one million crowns in the last 12 months, the owner must register as a VAT payer within 15 days of the last month’s expiration. Airbnb service has been operating in the Czech Republic since 2009. More than a million of travelers have used Airbnb last year for a short-term rental stay. Author: A.M.
The Czech Republic, Romania, Portugal and Poland recorded the highest employment rate among migrants born outside the European Union last year, according to data published by the European Statistics Office (Eurostat). The highest rate of employment last year occurred in the Czech Republic (79.4 percent), Romania (76.3 percent), Portugal (74.5 percent) and Poland (73 percent). The United Kingdom had the highest employment rate among migrants born in different EU Member States in 2017 (83.6 percent), followed by Portugal (82.7 percent), Sweden (80.7 percent) and Estonia (80.2 percent). Worst countries for non-EU migrants The employment rate for non-EU migrants was at its lowest in Belgium. Only 52% of residents born outside the EU were in employment, compared to 71% for native-born people. Greece followed with an employment rate of 54% for non-EU migrants. However, the Hellenic country also registered the 28-country bloc’s lowest employment rate for EU migrants (56.1%) and for the native-born population (58.1%). France completed the bottom trio, with just 55.6% of its non-EU population in employment, compared to 72.6% for its native-born population. Non-EU migrants in the EU: According to the latest EU census, in 2011 51 million people lived in an EU member state they had not...
The average price of new flats in Prague increased by 10% to CZK 99,400 per square meter by the end of April. This growth rate is actually gradually decreasing as the average price grew by 22.5% last year. According to Deloitte analyst Petr Hana, complete reconstruction of apartment buildings and the increasing growth of markets in the inner city also led to the increasing size and prices of new flats. Altogether, in March and April, the flats were sold for CZK 7.6 billion in 23 projects. Prague 1 is the most expensive district in Prague with an average price of CZK 218,900 per square meter. The cheapest is Prague 4 with an average of 80,000 crowns. Prices increased the most for Prague 1 by 30.2% and for Prague 10 by 26.6%. In contrast, prices in Prague 6 dropped by 6.4% and in Prague 2 by 1.5%. In March and April, developers in Prague sold 903 new homes. Most included Finepo (158), followed by the Central Group (139), UBM Bohemia / Crestyl (58), Ekospol (53) and Skanska Reality (43). The average sold apartment stood at 6.44 million crowns, its unit price was 97.900 crowns per square meter and its size was 64 square meters....
At 2.9 percent, the Czech unemployment rate is the lowest in 22 years, and in particular, graduates have never had it easier finding work. According to labor office statistics, there are currently ten vacancies per graduate, a state of affairs that is attracting young people from Greece, Italy or Spain to the Czech Republic. Unemployment varies widely by country in the EU, in many cases reflecting national differences in economic performance. In the first quarter of 2018, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, and Poland had the lowest unemployment rates. The highest unemployment rates were observed in Greece (20.1 percent in March 2018), Spain (15.8 percent), Italy (10.7 percent), France (9.2 percent) and Croatia (8.9 percent). Labour Office spokesman Martin Bačkovský says the booming economy and the low unemployment means that many companies no longer require work: “There are currently 300,000 job vacancies on the labor market and in the case of 70,000 job offers lack of experience is not considered a drawback.“ The increase in the number of foreigners in the Czech Republic through 2016 and 2017 brought the number of expats up to 524,000, around 5% of the total population of the Czech Republic, according to data published by the Czech Statistical Office...
The Czech Republic has stopped accepting visa application requests and requests for work permits from Vietnamese nationals until further notice, the Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday, citing the recent overburdening of the Czech embassy in Hanoi and also security risks. Interior Minister Jan Hamáček said “the measure has been taken as a result of the long-soaring number of these applications submitted to the Czech diplomatic mission in Hanoi, whose capacity has got overburdened, and also due to the risks that the National Security Council (BRS) discussed recently.” Hamáček added that the authorities would in future prioritize long-term residence applications made of the grounds of merging families. Lubomir Zaoralek, former foreign minister who currently heads the lower house foreign committee, said the main problem between Czechia and Germany is the unlawful production of pervitin (methamphetamine) and the Chinese or Vietnamese gangs which produce it. The damage caused to the Czech Republic is huge, amounting to dozens of billions of crowns.” Author: red
Czech President Miloš Zeman formally appointed Andrej Babiš as the country’s prime minister Wednesday, ending eight months of political deadlock since the billionaire businessman’s center-right ANO party won parliamentary elections. However, with just 93 of 200 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, the minority government will have to count on the support of a communist party that has remained only in the shadows of national politics since their rule ended with the Velvet Revolution in 1989. The centrist ANO (YES) movement led by Babiš won the election in October, but his minority government lost a confidence vote in January and had to resign. Other parties in Parliament have been reluctant to enter a coalition with ANO because of fraud charges Babiš faces. His new government is a coalition with the Social Democrats that would have support from the far-left Communists in the mandatory confidence vote expected on July 11. Both Zeman and Babiš are strong critics of the European Union’s migrant quota directive, with Babiš insisting that the EU should tackle migration by reinforcing its external borders and offering more aid to countries in the Middle East and Africa — where most of the refugees originate. Author: red
Wages are up in the Czech Republic compared to last year. In the first quarter of 2018, the average gross monthly nominal wage per full-time equivalent (FTE) employee was Kč 30.265, which was Kč 2,385 or 8.6 percent more than in the same period of 2017, according to the Czech Statistical Office (ČSÚ). It was the fastest real year-on-year growth since the Q1 2003. The increase in wages was higher than inflation. In Q1 2018 consumer prices grew by 1.9 percent, so wages increased by 6.6 percent in real terms. Read the full article here (Prague.TV)
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