Foreign trade balance in September swung to a surplus of CZK 1.8bn, in contrast to the market consensus of a deficit of CZK 7bn (Patria expected a deficit of CZK 4.5bn). Dynamics of both exports and imports collapsed from average of 18% in first 8 months of 2001, more significantly for imports that grew by paltry 2.6%, while exports managed a 7.7% growth. For the whole year of 2001 we expect a trade deficit of around CZK 140bn (6.5% of GDP).
(Davida Marek)