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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.

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 average monthly wage in the Czech Republic accelerated sharply in the past three months. In the first quarter, the average monthly wage in the Czech Republic amounted to slightly over 14,000 CZK, a year-on-year growth of 7.0 pct in nominal terms. In the same period, consumer prices grew by less than 4 percent.

Fixed-line telephone operators, the dominant operator Czech Telecom and one of the major alternative carriers, Aliatel, launched a pilot project of call-by-call carrier selection on Moday. The test is being carried out in the Jihlava region, South Moravia.

The end of last week saw a battle of two chemical giants - the oil refinery Ceska Rafinerska and the largest Czech chemical company Chemopetrol over prices of supplies. On Friday night, Ceska Rafinerska cut off supplies to Chemopetrol as they were unable to agree on prices of oil and other raw materials.

The state budget deficit in May decreased to 32 billion crowns from 42 billion in April, the ministry of Finance said on Monday.

The Czech authorities banned imports of German poultry and poultry products on Thursday. The move came in response to the discovery of a banned herbicide in organically grown wheat used as chicken feed in Germany. The spokesman for the veterinary authority, Josef Duben, said the ban will be in place until June 13. By then, the Czech veterinary authorities expect an explanation and more information from their German counterparts.

The upper house of the Czech parliament, the Senate, rejected on Friday a financing plan for the purchase of 24 new fighter jets for the Czech Air Force, which is the biggest military deal in Czech history, amounting to nearly 2 billion USD.

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.