Azernews.Az

By Bloomberg

Czech economic growth accelerated to the fastest pace ever in the first quarter, extending a recovery driven by manufacturing.

Gross domestic product increased 2.8 percent from the last three months of 2014, the strongest quarterly expansion on record, the statistics office in Prague said in a flash estimate on its website on Friday. GDP rose 3.9 percent from a year earlier, the fastest clip since the second quarter of 2008. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of 13 economists was for growth of 0.8 percent quarter-on-quarter and a 2 percent increase on an annual basis.

“Continued growth in almost all segments of the manufacturing industry, especially in the production of transportation vehicles and machinery, were of key importance for a favorable development of the Czech economy,” the statistics office said. It will publish detailed GDP data on May 29.

The central European nation of 10.5 million has enjoyed faster growth after suffering a record-long recession that ended in 2013. The central bank pushed the koruna currency weaker that same year by intervening in the market, a move policy makers say has helped to avert deflation and fuel the recovery by supporting exports and domestic demand.

The central bank sees economic growth of 2.6 percent this year and 3.2 percent in 2016.