A business leader in the Czech Republic has conceded that the global financial crisis is having a negative impact.

According to Vladimir Bystrov of truck maker Tarta, several companies in the automotive sector are having to lay off workers to cope with the downturn.

Indeed, Tarta itself is currently in the process of streamlining its workforce, with 500 people losing their jobs this year, reports UTC.

However, this has coincided with recruitment elsewhere in the company, which means only the employee base has only gone down by 100.

Mr Bystrov commented: "The first decision to reduce payroll costs came in July.

"That was before the financial crisis really occurred."

He added that the company has also been "strongly hit" by the development of the Czech crown’s exchange rate to the euro and US dollar.

This comes after the Czech Statistical Office warned that the country's lucrative export industry could be hit by the recession in the eurozone, as demand for goods and services in likely to fall.