Czech centrist, centre-right parties reach agreement on government, key agenda

FILE PHOTO: Czech Prime Minister and leader of ANO party Andrej Babis attends a news conference at the party's election headquarters after the country's parliamentary election in Prague, Czech Republic, October 9, 2021. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo

PRAGUE (Reuters) -Czech centrist and centre-right parties reached an agreement on forming a majority coalition government and its key agenda, the chairman of the strongest party in the new coalition said on Tuesday.

The five-party coalition faces elevated inflation, mounting debt, an economy curbed by a global shortage of semiconductors and surging energy prices, and a resurgent COVID-19 pandemic which has been gathering pace in recent weeks.