The Czech economy will contract by 4.3 percent this year as it suffers the effects of the global economic crisis, the finance ministry said in a report released Wednesday.
The figures from its latest macroeconomic forecast were significantly more pessimistic than previous estimates.
In May, the European Commission said it expected the Czech economy to shrink by 2.7 percent in 2009, while the country's central bank predicted it would contract by 2.4 percent. The ministry forecast a fall of 2.3 percent in April.
The export-oriented Czech economy has been hit hard as its major trading partners, including Europe's biggest economy, Germany, face deep recession. Unemployment grew to 8.0 percent in June and the economy contracted by a record 3.4 percent in the first quarter of 2009.
"All the countries, which are our major trading partners, except Poland, are in recession," the ministry said.
A small growth rate of 0.3 percent is expected for 2010, the ministry said.
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