The row over high oil prices (and high excise taxes) gets momentum as another right-of-centre party - ODS - joined Freedom Union and calls for a cut in excise taxes. Or does it? The shadow finance minister from the ODS said he wanted to cu excise tax by 2-3 CZK/liter. His chairman, though, called the same proposal from the Freedom Union as "childish" and refused to support it. Guess who gets the upper hand (no prizes for winning, though)…
Parliament failed to pass amendments to the Act on Executors that would complicate auctions. It failed to pass its version, either. Thus, auctions may go ahead, thanks to non-action of the legislators. Isn't it beautiful?
The Czech koruna recovered slightly from deep lows. It gained 0.15 CZK to 35.38 CZK/EUR. Vis-a-vis the dollar, the gain was smaller but the koruna anyway appreciated to 41.05 CZK/USD. Now all eyes are on today's GDP number for Q2 that may lift or impede the koruna.
Czech bond market was slightly bullish on Thursday, after surprisingly bad retail sales figures released in the morning. Both corporate and government issues shifted some 15 bps up in price, still with some uncertainty left for Friday, when Q2 GDP figures are to be published. IRS dropped some 3bps in the longer part, however real interest on that market is pretty the same as in previous days, especially for 2-3 years, which remain on offer side.
Current benchmark prices: MoF 6.75/05 100.55-85 (+15 bps), MoF 6.30/07 96.70-00 (+20 bps), MoF 6.40/10 95.60-90 (+10 bps).
(Ondrej Schneider and Dalimil Vyskovsky)