Current Affairs Energy prices to increase as of January 1st

Gas cooker "This further deregulation of energy prices is in fact reasonable, because in the past, energy prices for families were partially subsidized and there are still discussions, whether we will see some further increase in energy prices in the future. In fact, the prevailing opinion is that further increase of energy prices will not be drastic. It will rather follow the development of world prices of energy. In the future the development should not be affected by de-regulations as we saw in previous years and as we will also see in January next year."

This increase in the price of electricity and gas, what will it mean for the Czech family?

"It is estimated that in average it will increase the cost of energy for Czech families roughly by one hundred crowns per month. In my opinion such an increase is definitely not drastic and in fact, if we compare the pace of increase in energy prices with the dynamics we saw in previous years, we can say that the increase scheduled for January 2002 is lower than previous years."

So, what percentage of the family expenditures go towards gas and electricity?

"Very roughly we can say that some ten percent of the average household expenditure is spent on energy, including electricity, gas and other sources of energy."

So, that's what it's going to do to the family. What is it going to mean for the state, for the Czech national economy?

"If we take all this de-regulation in energy prices planned for January next year, it is estimated that it will add to the monthly inflation roughly half a percentage point, which is lower than impacts seen in previous years. So, in other words, because of the slower pace of de-regulation of energy prices we can expect that year on year inflation will tend to decline in January next year."