Prague 18 wants to continue supporting the local economy, the Corrency program will focus on households
Mayor of Prague 18 Zdeněk Kučera. Photo: archive
In addition to Prague 1, the eighteenth city district also participates in the local economy support program. She also evaluates the first phase successfully and will continue after the summer holidays. Prague patriot server Prague 18 mayor Zdeněk Kučera (ANO) informed about this.
The principle of the Corrency program is that the residents of the participating district will receive a certain number of correncies from the town hall, each of which has a value of one crown. And then they decide for themselves which of the involved entrepreneurs they will use current accounts for half of the expenses, while the rest will be paid from their own funds. It is a new form of subsidy that the town hall will support the chosen sector, while the citizens themselves will decide on the specific use.
While in Prague 1 people could use currents mainly in establishments belonging to the so-called civic amenities, in Prague 18 the town hall decided to support the health and movement of citizens.
“The program worked for us in May and June. We allocated two million crowns, every Letňan citizen over the age of fifteen had the opportunity to use 500 crowns,” said Mayor Kučera.
The municipality has decided to support associations and sports field operators, but also farm shops and health food stores. The citizens of Letňan thus saved half the costs, for example, when playing sports, or when shopping for vitamin supplements and healthy foods.
Roughly a thousand people participated, and there were still several hundred thousand crowns unused in the program. “We would like to continue in September, so that the currents subsidized by us are used up. And if the representatives are generous enough, which I believe, the district will increase the current account at the very beginning,” said Kučera.
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According to him, the program could also be extended to support households, so that they can buy basic food and other necessary items at more favorable prices while the cost of living is increasing due to high inflation. According to Kučera, however, the possibility of using current accounts for sports should remain.
“So far, the plan is to complete the Corrency in September, but I think it would make sense to extend the validity of the program until the end of the year, so that people have more time to use the corrency,” the mayor noted.
During the holidays, Corrency also evaluates Prague 1, which also implemented the pilot phase of the program in May and June. More than 1,500 citizens of the city district and roughly 160 establishments belonging to the so-called civic amenities participated. Prague 1 would also like to continue the next phase in the fall.
According to councilor Karel Grabein Procházka (ANO), the district would like to use the Corrency system after the holidays as a tool to help seniors cover the costs of meals and energy and families with children for leisure activities, school supplies or lunches. Prague 1 will still decide on the possible continuation of the program.
“What has turned out to be clearly positive is a working system that has proven itself in practice in the form of Corrency. Practically, this means that it can be used quickly and effectively as a means of quick help,” said the mayor of Prague 1, Petr Hejma (STAN).