All analysis from category Macro comment
Macro comment
January budget: deep deficit again
In January, the central government ran a deficit of CZK 26.0 billion. After adjusting for EU revenues, the deficit reached CZK 33.0 billion. Last year in January the budget was in deficit by CZK 10.8 billion, the year before it even reached a surplus of CZK 3.9 billion. The twelve-month balance fell by CZK 19 billion to CZK -308 billion.
Macro comment
PMI in January: new year brings no improvement
Business conditions were below the neutral value of 50 points in January for the twentieth month in a row, indicating a decline in business activity.
Macro comment
Q4 GDP: turnaround in household consumption
Gross domestic product grew by 0.2% quarter-on-quarter in Q4 2023, down 0.2% from Q4 2022. For the full year 2023, GDP fell by 0.4%. However, this is a first estimate that can be revised in either direction.
Macro comment
Retail sales in November: renewed growth towards the end of the year
Retail sales in November started to grow again after 20 months on a year-on-year basis.
Macro comment
Consumer prices in December: The end of high inflation
High inflation is slowly catching up. It should return to its usual low levels this year. Real wages will start to rise again and we will be able to focus on other issues instead of inflation. The Consumer Price Index fell by 0.4 per cent month-on-month in December. Year-on-year inflation fell to 6.9 per cent.
