Morning News: Wednesday, November 30, 2022

The standard of living in the Czech Republic declined relative to the European average last year. Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in purchasing power parity terms fell by two percentage points to 91% of the EU average, putting the Czech Republic on par with Slovenia. Italy is three percentage points above.

The minister of labour and social affairs, Marián Jurečka, has proposed increasing the minimum monthly wage by 1,100 crowns to 17,300 crowns from January of next year. The 6.8 percent proposed increase is higher than originally envisaged due to high inflation and predictions that it will continue to rise next year. The proposed hike will now be debated by trade unions and employers’ representatives.

Real wages in the Czech Republic are falling the most out of any OECD country since the state was founded, according to an analysis by the company Cyrrus. The analysis shows that real wages fell by 8.3 percent this year and that the average Czech full-time employee would have needed to have saved CZK 40,000 during 2022 to maintain the same standard of living as they previously enjoyed.

The Czech Republic will raise its contribution to investments in the programs of the European Space Agency (ESA) to 62 million euros a year (around CZK 1.6 billion), Transport Minister Martin Kupka (ODS) announced yesterday at a press conference.

ANO party Chairman Andrej Babiš is now the favourite in the upcoming Czech presidential election according to a Data Collect and Kantar poll conducted for Czech Television. Mr Babiš polled at 27 percent with retired general Petr Pavel falling into second place with 26.5 percent.