Foreign trade reached a surprisingly high surplus of
CZK 13.6bn. Exports increased by 19.5% while imports were up by only 14.5%. After a slight deterioration in the balance of trade in January, February brought about a significant improvement in both nominal and real terms. After just two months, the positive balance for 2007 is equal to almost
CZK 25bn, which is the best result in foreign trade statistics so far. This is mainly due to the decline in oil prices, the fast growth in IT exports and car exports and the strong economic growth being seen in Slovakia. For the whole year, the foreign trade surplus could reach
CZK 60bn and this should help to decrease the current account part of the balance of trade to back below 4% of GDP. Also, this result should have a positive influence on the Czech crown.