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The Czech crown has just witnessed a taster of what the central bank, government, and business do not want to see – some uncharacteristic volatility - following the national bank’s decision not to declare an end date for the low crown. Some speculators have probably temporarily cashed in on their crown positions but there’s still a lot of cash in play and it not necessarily a one way bet, as Patria Finance chief economist, Jan Bureš, explained.

In the poker game that is international financial speculation, central banks often have the best cards in their hands. Of course, that’s not always the case.

There is speculation that the Plzeň-based engineering company Škoda Transportation will be sold to the Chinese company CRRC, iHned.cz reported on Thursday. However, a series of problems may have adversely affected the value of the train and tram producer, the news site said.

Ahead of the presentation of a prototype at next month’s Shanghai Motor Show in China, Czech carmaker Škoda Auto has just revealed details about, and images of, its first ever fully electric car. The Vision E will combine SUV and coupe elements, travel up to 550 kilometres on one charge-up and be capable of a significant level of autonomous driving.

The future of the Czech Republic’s “data box” repository system, an online platform via which official documents can be lodged with the state authorities, is unclear after a tender process for what is one of the country’s largest public contracts was thrown out.

The forex interventions launched by the Czech National Bank in November 2013 as an instrument for maintaining monetary stability could soon be a thing of the past. Economists predict the central bank could decide to end interventions as early as the beginning of April. I spoke to David Marek, chief economist with the consultancy Deloitte, about the likelihood of such a move and its immediate impact on the economy.

There is increased tension in the Czech coalition government over the EC’s announcement that it will fine the Czech Republic 800,000 euros over a clash of interest in the distribution of farming subsidies. The irregularity concerns members of all three ruling parties and Prague has already filed a request for the launch of conciliation proceedings in Brussels.

The Czech rail market is set to open up further to competition after the government’s approval of liberalisation plans on Wednesday, the Czech News Agency reported. According to information posted on the Office of the Government’s website, tender processes for the right to run services on five high-speed rail lines will be held by the end of 2021

Škoda Auto has just enjoyed the most successful year in its history. The Czech-based carmaker saw its profits climb by just over a third in 2016 to reach CZK 25.7 billion. It was the third year in succession that Škoda, the country’s biggest exporter, made a new record profit.

The Czech Republic’s biggest electricity producer, almost 70 percent state owned ČEZ, delivered its 2016 results on March 21 with the outcome largely disappointing analysts.