ČBA: Czech economic growth to shrink by 7.5 percent due to coronavirus

The Czech Banking Association (ČBA) predicts the domestic economy will decline by some 7.5 percent this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. In 2021, the economy should grow 5.3 percent, the association told a press conference.

The association’s estimates do not factor in a possible “second wave” of the coronavirus pandemic in the autumn, nor the repetition of widespread measures to contain the spread of the disease.

Economists of member banks agree the most significant decline in GDP occurred in the second quarter and expect that the economy will return to its 2019 level at the earliest in 2022. The consensus view is that unemployment will be twice the pre-crisis level both this year and in 2020.