Central bank vice governor: Economy could return to recession

The Czech economy could return to recession, the vice governor of the Czech National Bank, Vladimír Tomšík, told an economic forum on Wednesday. Mr. Tomšík referred to recently released preliminary figures suggesting that there had been a 0.5 contraction in GDP in the third quarter of this year. The previous quarter had seen the first growth in a year and a half, bringing to an end the Czech Republic’s longest ever recession. Mr. Tomšík said the central bank aimed to keep the Czech crown at around 27 to the euro, which is where it has been since the bank intervened to weaken it two weeks ago.