The Senate elections winners came form the four-party coalition (4C). Its candidates gained seats in 17 of 27 Senate seats in stake. ODS won 8 seats, ČSSD 1 seat and the rest seat will be seized by an independent candidate. ODS and ČSSD lost their Senate majority needed for proposed changes of the election law. The result means a change of political power distribution in the Czech republic and could potentially lead to a breakdown of the “Opposition Pact”.
President Havel decided about the next central bank Governor and a new member of the ČNB board. However, officially names will be known next week. Newspapers said the most probable new Governor remains Tůma, current Vice-Governor of the ČNB.
The Czech koruna stayed in the tight range between 34.60 and 34.70 and ended at 34.67 against euro on Thursday. Against the dollar the Czech koruna slipped to 40.57 from 40.33 on Wednesday.
Thursday was a very quiet day for Czech bonds. Stable IRS, CZK FX rate a long weekend caused this. The only issue in demand was 6.75/05, on the other hand mortgage bonds were on sale, caused by new CMHB issue announced. Market is still speculation who will be the new CNB governor, which crucial for interest rates changes in the near future.
Current benchmark prices: MoF 6.75/05 98.75-05 (+15 bps), MoF 6.30/07 93.50-80 (unchanged), MoF 6.40/10 91.50-80 (unchanged).
(David Marek)