Economy growing faster than predicted

The Czech economy grew faster in the last quarter of 2013 than originally predicted with a GDP growth of 1.9 percent against the previous quarter. This constituted a 1.3 percent expansion year on year. In the whole of last year, the GDP contracted by 0.9 percent which was also a better figure than the original estimate. The country came out a drawn-out recession only last year and the boost in growth at the end of 2013 came after the central bank intervened massively to weaken the crown as a means of fighting deflation risks. The forex interventions encouraged consumer spending with shoppers trying to get ahead of expected price rises this year due to costlier imports.