The most recent numbers for the Czech Republic confirm what most people active in the market already knew: economic growth is peaking. The contry’s statistics office confirmed that GDP growth in the final quarter of the year hit 5.1 percent, making the total increase for the year 4.5 percent. While the numbers have not yet been finalized, it appears clear now that the only country with faster growth is Romania. “The Czech economy kept an extremely strong tempo at the end of last year,” ČSOB’s economist Petr Dufek told Hospodářské noviny. “At first glance, it was smaller than the market or the central bank expected, but it can still be considered excellent.” The same results are not being anticipated for this year, however. “The Czech economy is at the peak of its growth, and the tempo in 2018 will slow down,” said Raiffeisenbank analyst František Táborský. One of the reasons for this is that companies are no longer able to find enough labor to meet growing demand. Romania enjoyed 7 percent growth in the final three months of 2017, but the next fastest growing economy in CEE was Hungary, which improved 4.8 percent.
