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The Czech Republic is to receive further assistance from the EU in fighting economic crime and corruption.

The Czech Republic is considering limiting imports of certain steel products, including sheet metal, seamless tubes and wires.

According to recent statistics released by the European Eurostat agency, the Czech Republic and Slovakia have the highest computer literacy and internet proliferation among their populations of all the EU membership candidates from Central and Eastern Europe. Nevertheless, the two countries still significantly lag behind the EU average. In the Czech Republic, there are 14 computers and the same number of internet users per 100 people, whereas the EU average is more than 30 computers and 32 internet users per 100 inhabitants.

The current ruling Social Democratic party won the general elections last weekend and is most likely to form a coalition government with the centrist Christian Democrats and Freedom Union. According to economic analysts, the election results do not suggest any significant changes in the government's economic policies, nor are they expected to affect the exchange rate or the stock market. However, experts agree that there are certain important tasks ahead of the government, such as a fiscal and pension reform.

Czech inflation in May slowed down to 2.5 percent year-on-year from 3.2 percent in April, which is the lowest figure since 1999.

Industrial production in April accelerated significantly by 8.2 percent year-on-year, up from 4 percent in March, surpassing market expectations which hovered around 6 percent.

The Czech unemployment rate in May decreased to 8.6 percent from 8.8 the previous month.

On Tuesday, Czechs celebrated the so-called day of tax freedom. That means that until then, everyone worked just to pay taxes. All the rest of wages as of now until the end of the year, is net income. Liberal economists calculate this date every year to show people that nearly half of their earnings goes to the state coffers as taxes, social and health insurance and other payments.

The Regional Court in Usti nad Labem, North Bohemia, has ruled that the local authorities breached the law during proceedings concerning the construction of a new industrial zone near the town of Most, where the Mexican company Nemak has started building its plant.

The Czech state-run airline CSA has reported that its net profit dropped 57 percent in 2001 as a result of reduced demand following the terrorist attacks on the United States.