Parliament postponed the decision whether to cut excise tax on fuel. There were altogether three proposals, but none got majority support. The government strongly opposes any of them. ODS plans to "ask" fuel distributors whether they would pass lower taxes on to motorists.
Parliament also refused to block CZK 200 bil. (USD 5 bil.) for a pension reform financing. The Freedom Union's proposal was voted down by the CSSD, ODS and communists.
Banks are getting ready to start auctioning thousands pieces of property they are holding as collateral. This was nigh impossible until last week, but it was made much easier lately as creditors do not need a debtor consent any longer.
The Czech koruna is slowly recovering from its recent loses vis-a-vis the euro. Yesterday it climbed to 35.45 CZK/USD. As usual, the koruna reached new all-time low against the dollar, this time 41.65 CZK/USD as the dollar gained below 0.75 USD/EUR level.
There will be a brand new bond issue at the Czech market, as the Skoda Auto prepares its first bond issue of CZK 10 bil. It will have three, five and ten-year tranches and may be very attractive bond, indeed. Czech bonds rose slightly yesterday, as IRS dropped by some 2 bps on the longer part. Long governments and 10-year EIB were especially in demand, while corporates stayed on previous levels. However, the rise was not dramatic, and in fact, the traded volume was still below the average. Wednesday could be quiet day again, with Thursday's trade balance the main factor for next days' trading.
Current benchmark figures: MoF 6.75/05 100.45-75 (unchanged), MoF 6.30/07 96.65-95 (+15 bps), MoF 6.40/10 95.65-95 (+10 bps).
(Ondrej Schneider and Dalimil Vyskovsky)