The Czech economy improved slightly in May but still lags behind the pre-crisis level of economic activity. Despite a month-on-month increase of more than 10%, industrial production is about a quarter lower. Of the industries, the automotive industry is currently the worst performing. Unfortunately, the fall in new orders by almost 35% in May does not give much optimism to the future. Currently civil engineering, whose production increased 1.2%, cannot complain about demand. In building construction, on the other hand, production decreased 11%. Despite weak demand from the domestic and foreign economies, however, unemployment in the Czech Republic remains low for the time being, at 3.7% in June, according to the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. In our opinion, the main reason is the Antivirus programme.

Interim data showed strong antibody and T-cell responses

Czechs have to spend 11.4 average annual salaries to purchase their own 70 sqm apartment. Compared to 22 selected European countries, home ownership is the least affordable in the Czech Republic, closely followed by Serbia, where 11.3 local annual salaries are required to buy a new apartment. These are the findings of the latest Deloitte Property Index 2020 study. 

A marathon negotiation has resulted in an agreement on the EU budget and recovery fund. It is a significant step of solidarity and integration, but the hard-fought negotiations show that this provides no guarantee of unity moving forward and it is unclear how much political porcelain has been smashed for good.