In Business News this week: the current account of Czech Republic’s balance of payments shows the first surplus ever recorded; Czech household debt reached 1.7 billion crowns last year; Czechs spent over 13 billion crowns in foreign online stores in 2014; Honeywell expands its innovation centre in Brno; Skoda Auto launches production of new Superb:
Czech balance of payments shows first surplus in history
Photo: athewma / freeimages
The current account of the Czech Republic’s balance of payments, a broad measure of goods and money flowing in and out of the country, showed a surplus of 26.1 billion crowns in 2014, the first surplus ever recorded, the Czech National Bank announced on Friday. In 2013, the balance of payments showed a deficit of 57 billion crowns. According to CSOB analyst Petr Dufek the results suggest that in the long-run, the domestic economy is based on very solid foundations. Last year witnessed a big jump in the trade surplus in goods and services to 294.8 billion from 232 billion in 2013.
Czech household debt grows to CZK 1.7 billion
Photo: Barbora Němcová, Radio Prague International
Czech household debt to banks and financial institutions grew by 220 billion to 1.7 trillion crowns last year, compared to the previous year, according to the data published by Czech Credit Bureau this week. Some 3.1 million Czechs sought loans last year, which is a year-on-year increase of 163,000. The interest in mortgages also continued to grow and currently amounts to 1.1 trillion crowns. The average mortgage size is two million crowns.
Czechs spent over 13 billion in foreign online stores
Photo: European Commission
Czechs spent some 13.3 billion crowns in purchases from foreign online stores last year. In the last quarter of 2014 alone they bought goods worth 4.1 billion crowns, which represents a year-on-year increase of 57 percent, according to the Czech Bank Card Association. Czech customers altogether carried out 10.6 billion on-line transactions in foreign online stores. The average value of purchases amounted to 1, 251 crowns. According to the credit card company Visa, Czechs have been mainly shopping on line in Great Britain, Ireland, the US, Germany and Luxembourg.
Honeywell expands its innovations centre in Brno
Illustrative photo: US-Air Force, Public Domain
US global technology and systems company Honeywell has launched operations at three new research and development laboratories at its technology and innovations centre in Brno. The centre is Honeywells biggest in Europe. The company is going to invest around 250 million crowns (about ten million US dollars) in the facility and plans to employ around 300 people. Another five research labs are scheduled to open at the site in the coming months. The research centre in Brno was established in 2003 and currently employs more than 1500 people.
Škoda Auto launches production of new Superb
Photo: CTK
The first Superb of the new third-generation model rolled off the assembly line at Škoda Auto’s factory in Kvasiny in east Bohemia this week. The new Škoda Superb model should go on sale in June and retailers started taking orders this week. The Czech car manufacturer is hoping to increase sales of the Superb by a quarter compared with the two previous models. Some 700,000 Superbs have been sold since 2001. The price of the third-generation Superb will range from 599,900 to 830,000 crowns.
