Real gross domestic product (GDP) for Q1 2011, adjusted for working days, rose 2.5 percent year-on-year and 0.6 percent compared with the previous quarter, according to preliminary estimates from the Czech Statistical Office (ČSÚ).
The result was higher than expectations, as the Czech National Bank (ČNB) had forecast 2.3 percent y/y growth. But analysts found reason for disappointment. “Looking at the results from other countries, however, it was one of the worse outcomes. Our biggest export partner Germany rose by 1.5 percent quarter-on-quarter, the French and Slovak economies by 1.0 percent. Hungary, with 0.7 percent q/q flourished more than the local economy,” Komerční banka analyst Jiří Škop said in market comment.
Analysts polled by news agency Reuters had expected 0.9 percent q/q growth for Germany. In a year-on-year comparison, Germany’s Q1 GDP rose 4.9 percent. Without adjustment for working day effect, GDP in Q1 2011 increased by 2.8 percent, y/y; final figures will be released June 9.
Manufacturing holds the key role in the economic recovery, with gross value added formation growing by more than 10 percent on the year, the ČSÚ said. On the other hand, some service industries, due to budget restrictions, have not returned to the Q1 2010 level. A year-on-year decrease in real gross value added formation also affected also construction and agriculture.
For the full year 2010, the GDP growth was 2.2 percent. The ČNB predicts 1.5 percent growth for 2011 and 2.8 percent growth for 2012.
