Ostrava continues to reduce its debt levels
In the past three years the City of Ostrava has not taken out any new loans, and it continues to make its scheduled repayments and reduce its overall debt levels. Every year the City audits its expenditure and builds up financial reserves for future investments. Ostrava's prudent financial management has been rewarded by an A1 stable rating from Moody's – the highest rating awarded to any Czech city.
Live debt clock.
The City of Ostrava is committed to full transparency in all aspects of its financial management, so it has created a new section on its official website where anybody can view the City's complete budget – including details of the various types of income and expenditure. The website also has a live debt clock which displays the precise level of the City's debt at any given moment. In 2014 Ostrava owed a total of 3.78 billion CZK, but the City's current leadership has reduced this figure to 2.65 billion CZK. This represents a decrease in the level of direct debt per citizen from 12 852 CZK to 8 854 CZK.
The debt clock shows how Ostrava's debt continues to fall in real time: at a rate of 14 CZK per second, 857 CZK per minute, and around 480 million CZK per year.
To see the debt clock, go to the City's homepage www.ostrava.cz /en and click on the banner "Odpočitávadlo dluhu" .
To view the City's interactive budget, go to http://www.ostrava.cz/cs/urad/rozpocet/view.