INVESTMENTS

a modest wood cottage in Střelmá. I spent many wonderful days wandering the slopes of the Čantoryje,

Sošov, Filipka and neighbourhood, in the circle of the

close family, both grandmothers and grandfathers

included. My brother still lives in the area and I am

happy to come back whenever I have the time.

Nothing compares to the places where you spent your

childhood and youth.

I do recommend going to the Těšín part of the Beskyd

Mountains, the amazing range of mountains between

Nýdek and Hrčava (the most eastern village in the

Czech Rep. at the border point of the Czech and

Slovak Republics and Poland). And I will never forget

the delicious “placki na blasze”, fantastic potato

pancakes which granny Rusnok made sweet with

cream or salty with pork cracklings.

Question answered by key managers of companies

and the Union for Development of the Moravian-Silesian Region:

Mário Loja,

CEO Semperflex Optimit

What is your estimate of the development of the

CZK / EUR rate by the end of 2018 and in 2019?

The current prognosis of CNB (model estimate)

defines the average rate in 2018 at 24.80 and in 2019

at 24.30 CZK per EUR.

When do you expect the introduction of the EUR in

the present political situation in the Czech Rep. and

the EU (Italian election, etc.)?

In autumn 2017 the Czech government announced

they were not setting a particular date of joining the

system ERM2 and the Eurozone as it is. Therefore we

cannot expect this step in the nearest future. However,

it is mostly a political decision so it will depend on the

political development in the Czech Republic.

Jan Skipala

President of the Association of Industrial

Companies of Moravia and Silesia in Ostrava

What impact will the problems of the Chinese bank

CEFC and J&T have on investments?

As for the overall Czech economy, even a single

Chinese company’s difficulties may have a considerable effect. However, this company is most probably

going to be acquired by a significant semi-state-owned

investor, so there is hardly any dramatic impact to be

expected on Czech business partners. In the banking

segment of J&T Group the Chinese investor is a minor

shareholder, and the bank itself runs on standard capital

and normal operation.

Bohuslav Čížek

CEO Economic Policy Section

of the Confederation of Industry

and Transport of Czech Republic

What do you see as “normal” interest rates in Czech

environment for near future? What increase should

business expect?

This year we expect only a mild increase in commercial

interest rates on the Czech market, I estimate it at only

a few tenths of a percentage point. In 2019 the interest

rate may increase more, our prognosis estimates the

average rate at 3M PRIBOR at 1.7%.

What risks of instability and what factors limiting the

increase of the Czech economy do you see from your

position and from the view of targeting inflation?

As I’ve said before, in the short term (including 2019),

I feel optimistic. The greatest obstacle of a faster

increase remains in the lack of a labour force. The

insecurities relate to political tension worldwide, and

efforts to limit free market and trade. Targeting inflation

does not tend to change the standard operation with

central banks anywhere in the world. The same applies

to CNB.

Thank you for the interview.

The interview was conducted on April 10, 2018.

Text a foto:

Aleš Vítek a ČNB

POSITIV 1/2018

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