Construction will continue to grow, analysts and experts expect

Prague - Construction will continue to grow in the coming months, mainly due to public contracts. This is indicated by statements from analysts and experts for ČTK. The Czech Statistical Office reported today that construction output rose by six percent year-on-year in February.
    "Domestic construction is experiencing the best start to the year in the last seven years. The brisk growth in the first months can no longer be attributed solely to a low comparative base as in the previous year. The data shows that construction is really beginning to catch its breath and quickly fill the trench that was created after 2008 when the economic and financial crisis began," said the director of the development company Ekospol, Evžen Korec.
    The president of the Association of Entrepreneurs in Construction in the Czech Republic, Václav Matyáš, also pointed to the continued moderate rise in construction. "I would like to be able to say with certainty that it is permanent," Matyáš added.
    According to him, engineering construction is being driven upward mainly by sufficient funds in the State Fund for Transportation Infrastructure and promises of starting large construction projects. "In building construction, residential construction should play a more favorable role than before, primarily because the level of mortgage interest rates is still significantly low," he added.
    The director of the analytical company CEEC Research, Jiří Vacek, pointed out the important role of the public sector. "The basis for the year-round growth of construction will be the increase in the volume of public contracts being prepared for the construction industry. The sector is also supported by the influx of contracts from private investors, for example from the engineering and industrial production sectors," he stated. Every third company already has a larger volume of contracts compared to the previous year. "A similar proportion of firms is also planning to hire new employees so that they can meet the increasing demand," Vacek added.
    On the other hand, the chief economist of the financial group Roklen, Lukáš Kovanda, still refers to construction as the "sick man" of the Czech economy. "While February's figures show growth, especially considering the relatively mild winter, it is not a remarkable growth. Compared to the pre-crisis year 2008, construction output in February was still almost a third lower - and a return to former levels cannot be expected before 2020," he warned.
    The construction industry is slowly reviving from the significant crisis it has been in in recent years. The volume of the sector fell by 443 billion crowns between 2008 and 2013, which is the annual turnover of construction. more than 50,000 people lost their jobs in Czech construction companies.