Prague - As people wonder what the new year holds in store for them, they can bet on one rather cruel certainty: rising prices everywhere they look.
In the Czech Republic people will pay more for food products, energy, train tickets, postal services or TV license fees just to name a few.
Compared to a year ago the November inflation rate rose 5%, marking a biggest increase since August 2001. That is also one of the reasons the 2007 Christmas was much more expensive.
The inflation rate increase was spurred mainly by the price hikes of food products. To make Christmas cookies, something an average Czech family cannot imagine having Christmas without, one thus had to pay more for flour, butter, eggs, milk and also oil and bread. Needless to say, fruits and vegetables did not get cheaper either.
Inflation on an upward spiral
"Unfortunately, it is clear now the next year inflation rate will have the number 6 at the beginning," says Michal Brožka of Raiffeisenbank.
"The reason for that is the increase of the lowered VAT, consumer tax for cigarettes, continuing deregulation of rent prices and increase of energy prices," adds Brožka.
But that is not all. From January the energy prices will go up as well.
Czech households will pay for electricity consumption by 9.1% more on average and companies by 15% more. The general price increase however does not reflect the new environmental tax, which will probably make the final price by 1% higher.
The smallest price hikes are expected in the regions in which the energy giant ČEZ is the main supplier. Its customers can expect price increase by 8%.
Prices of other companies like Pražská energetika will see a price hike by 10.2% and E.ON, which supplies southern Bohemia and Moravia, will raise its prices by 11.1%.
Even households using natural gas or fossil fuels will experience price hikes.
Heat prices will increase by 10.3%. An average household will pay by 2050 CZK more. It is going to be the highest price hike in the last ten years, says Teplárenské sdružení (Thermal Association).
Coal heated households will pay by 20.7% more. Natural gas heating plants will raise their prices by 16.8%.
Transportation and communication
But even there the prices hikes do not end. Amendments in train schedules spurred new prices as well.
Some ticket prices went up by 50% and more, which will affect mainly people who commute to work on daily basis. For example, a passenger who commutes daily from Tábor to Soběslav, which covers about 20 km, will pay now 868 CZK, instead of 540 CZK last year - a price increase of about 61%.
Monthly student passes were discarded altogether.
We are going to pay more also for a highway toll sticker, which went up to 1000 CZK.
Monthly TV license fee will increase from 120 CZK up to 135 CZK. Sending parcels, post money orders, mail and postcards will get more expensive too, although not drastically. Česká pošta (Czech Post) is planning to raise prices by tenths of per cent on average.
