• Ministry of Finance is expecting that this year’s public finance deficit reaches
CZK 138.4bn, i.e. 4% of GDP. New forecast is in line with Convergence programme target in 2006.
• Hungarian central bank left interest rates unchanged. Base rate, two-week repo, remains at 8%. There was also a discussion on interest rates lowering.
• German government increased its forecast for economy growth in 2007 to 2.3% from 1.7%. In 2008 GDP should grow to 2.4%.
• Core inflation in Poland reached 1.7% y/y in March. This result is in line with expectations.
•
According to Eurostat, public finance deficit in Hungary in 2006 reached 9.2% of GDP, in Slovakia 3.4% of GDP. Budget deficit in Poland reached 3.9% and in
eurozone decreased to 1.6% of GDP.
• Deputy Ministry of Finance Mr. Janota stated that government might issue
eurobonds worth at least EUR 1.5bn if the conditions are good. He prefers long-term bonds.