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06/22/2022
The board of the Czech National Bank has raised the key interest rate by 1.25 percentage points to 7 per cent, the highest rate since 1999. This was the seventh consecutive increase in the base rate by more than 0.25 percentage points. The reason for the significant increase is rising inflation and expectations that this will continue, the Czech News Agency reports.
Interest on bank deposits and loans is based on central bank interest rates. A higher base rate means more expensive loans for households and businesses.
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06/22/2022
The government has approved a new sanctions law inspired by the US 2016 Magnitsky Act. The legislation will allow Czechia to impose sanctions that have not yet been included in the European Union's sanctions list. Currently there is no real legal tool with which the Czech Republic could sanction a foreign entity on the basis of domestic demand, for example, if the state wanted to prevent an individual from entering or staying on its territory.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine forced the government to speed up the preparation of the draft legislation, which the Cabinet has announced will be adopted by the end of 2023. The proposal now needs to be approved by Parliament.
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06/22/2022
One death in the Czech Republic has a probable connection with the covid-19 vaccine, says the director of the registration section of the State Institute for Drug Control (SÚKL), Tomáš Borán. Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, he said the death was caused by thrombosis and a reduction in the number of platelets after the administration of one of the adenoviral vector vaccines.
Mr. Borán emphasised that the risk of dying from Covid-19 is much higher, with more than 40,000 people having died from the disease in the Czech Republic so far.
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06/22/2022
Thursday is expected to be sunny and warm, with day temperatures between 24 and 28 degrees Celsius.
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06/22/2022
The government has approved an amendment to the constitution allowing for greater flexibility in the conditions for sending Czech military troops abroad, the Czech News Agency has reported. The amendment gives the Cabinet the power to send troops abroad without the prior consent of Parliament, if it is a matter of protection of life and health, endangerment of property, or the security of the Czech Republic.
The Defence Ministry drafted the proposal in response to a resolution after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in which the Cabinet concluded that the current wording of the constitution did not allow for enough speed and flexibility in responding to crises.
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06/22/2022
Members of the National Economic Council of the Government (NERV) had their first meeting since their activities were resumed in May on Wednesday. They have agreed to meet monthly from now on. The state budget and the energy crisis were the main topics at the meeting.
David Marek, a member of the board and chief economist of Deloitte, told reporters that the possibility of raising taxes was discussed at the meeting as one way of increasing the state budget. NERV also discussed the planned austerity tariff by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the issue of housing.
NERV was founded in 2009 as a body of experts tasked with seeking a solution to the effects of the 2008 financial crisis on the Czech Republic. After the fall of the government at the time, NERV's activities were suspended in August 2013. The government resumed NERV's activities in May 2022 in response to economic problems related to the COVID-19 pandemic, rising energy prices and the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with the task of the council being to propose reforms of key public systems, such as the pension system.
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06/22/2022
The Czech national, municipal and regional governments spent more than CZK 7.2 billion managing the Ukrainian refugee crisis in the period from the war breaking out on February 24 up until the end of May, the Ministry of Finance has announced. Most of this amount was spent on social benefits, costing CZK 4 billion. The state government was the largest contributor at CZK 6.1 billion.
The Ministry stated that the total figure does not include spending by municipal and regional governments in May, which could be several further tens of millions of crowns.
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06/22/2022
The Czech Philharmonic Orchestra will perform its traditional open-air concert at Hradčany Square near Prague Castle on Wednesday evening. The concert usually takes place annually, but was cancelled for the last two years due to Covid restrictions. The programme, which includes George Gershwin’s An American in Paris and music from the film franchise Star Wars, was curated by British conductor Wayne Marshall. The concert will start at 8.15pm and admission is free.
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06/22/2022
Czechia’s upcoming presidency of the EU Council is a major opportunity for the country to place itself within the centre of the union’s workings for the next several years, rather than on its periphery as has been the case thus far, Vice President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency Věra Jourová told the Czech News Agency in an interview released on Wednesday. Czechia, according to the commissioner, should therefore make sure to connect its domestic and European agenda, with individual ministers having their own assigned targets that they need to achieve. While this is something that Czech cabinet members now have at the time of the start of their country’s presidency, it should be so always, she said.
Ms Jourová also said that The Czech Republic will have to clearly delineate itself against Hungary’s and Poland’s positions towards the rule of law during its presidency, as it is currently seen in Brussels as a country that is influenced by its Visegrad Group partners.
Furthermore, the European Council commissioner said that she wants to invite the heads of global internet platforms to the Czech Republic in order to meet with ministers from member states and discuss the EU’s recently agreed Code of Practice on Disinformation. The Czech Republic can help move this policy more towards the east of Europe, where it is most needed, she said.
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06/22/2022
The Czech Republic has asked the EU to subsidise CZK 3.2 billion worth of materiel that the country has provided to Ukraine, Defence Minister Jana Černochová said on Tuesday. Prague has thus far sent more than CZK 3.7 billion worth of military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine since the country was attacked by Russia, the Czech News Agency reports.
Resources for military aid to Ukraine are being withdrawn from the so-called European Peace Facility fund, which has a budget of around EUR 5 billion. The fund is used to cover the arms supplies that EU member states are sending to Ukraine from their own reserves, the Czech News Agency writes.
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