Third of Czech businesses expect recession to last long-term

Prague, Feb 22 (CTK) - Czech businesses are mostly sceptical about the development of the Czech economy in 2013 since 31 percent of them think recession will continue and consider it a long-term reality, according to a poll carried out by the Association of Small and Medium-sized Companies.

A total of 13 percent of companies think an improvement is remote, which is why they continue in austerity measures.

As many as 19 percent of businesses believe the recession will cease at the end of this year. These companies are preparing themselves actively for this and are planning to increase investments.

The same percentage of businesses expect an improvement at the end of the year and hope that a revival will come in 2014. But before this happens, they intend to maintain their austerity regime.

Another 13 percent of businesses are cautious optimists who believe in a gradual growth this year. These companies are already making slight investments at present.

Only 5 percent of businesses think the crisis has almost ended and they expect a strong growth and development of their companies.

According to analysts, the Czech Republic is in the longest recession since 1997 when the country's economy also contracted for four straight quarters. The current recession is however weaker compared to the years 2008 and 2009, they said.

Economist predict stagnation at best for this year. An economic improvement can come in the second quarter of the year at the earliest, according to them.