Retail sales fell 5.1 percent in December compared to December 2011, but when adjusted for the number of working days, it was just a 0.4 percent drop. This beat the average estimates that economists had been projecting, and resulted in the Czech crown bouncing off the lowest levels it’s been trading at for six months, and halting a three-day slide. Bloomberg quotes Ceska sporitelna economist Martin Lobotka as saying that “the worst is over as far as household consumption is concerned.” He went on to predict that they could help convince the Czech National Bank at its meeting tomorrow against intervening to stabilize the crown’s exchange rate.
