Czech industrial output soars in May

Czech industrial output soared to an annual pace of 15.2 percent in May from 4.7-percent growth in April, fuelled by a leap in car and machinery production, unadjusted official data showed on Friday. Industrial output grew by a seasonally adjusted 2.7 percent between April and May, said the Czech Statistical Office. The annual growth was driven by car production, which jumped by 29.9 percent, and by machinery production, up 22.7 percent. Car production is the key engine of the ex-communist economy which is home to big plants run by Germany's Volkswagen, South Korea's Hyundai, and TPCA, a joint venture between Japan's Toyota and France's PSA Peugeot Citroen. "There was an extra workday against May 2010, but the growth was still high," David Marek, head analyst at investment bank Patria Finance, told AFP. "It was probably a one-off upswing -- there are many factors indicating that the growth won't be so fast in the months to come," he added. The Czech economy grew 2.3 percent in 2010 following a 4.1-percent contraction caused by the global downturn in 2009. In the first quarter of this year, the economy expanded by 2.5 percent compared with the same period in 2010. The central bank expects economic growth to slow down to 1.5 percent this year due to austerity measures planned by the centre-right government, before a pick-up to 2.8 percent in 2012.