• European Commission critically assessed Czech convergence programme. Public budgets deficit should reach 4% this year instead of 3.3% to which Czech Republic committed to.
• On the other hand, according to Commissioner Almunia, Czech Republic will not have any major problems with euro adoption after it deals with oversized state finance deficits.
• UN expects that world economy growth rate is going to decelerate to 3.4% this year. Next year, growth should reach 3.6%. World economy is slowed down by US housing market as Europe and Japan are not going to become growth leaders.
• According to expectations, Polish central bank left interest rates unchanged. Prime 2wk repo rate remains at 4.25%. Last time bank increased rates was April.
• According to minutes of Fed meeting, risks for economy growth decreased, but the main worry, inflation, remains. This means that interest rates will not decline in the short-term.
• French unemployment decreased to its 25-year minimum of 8.2%. In March, unemployment reached 8.3%.