Business leaders in the Czech Republic have predicted that the ongoing economic crisis will last until 2010 at least.

A poll by the Czech economic chamber found that half of the country's company owners believe they will still be dealing with the current financial turmoil in over a year.

However, the majority of respondents said their businesses had performed well in 2008, despite the wider problems in the global economy.

Petr Kuzel, president of the chamber, stated that factors such as tightening lending criteria have created a very challenging environment for the business sector.

He told the Prague Daily Monitor: "In the last quarter of the year, the global economic and financial crisis began to have considerable impacts."

Mr Kuzel added that rising fuel prices and exchange rate volatility have also created problems for companies in the Czech Republic.

The findings coincide with new estimates from the Czech National Bank, which has predicted that the economic growth rate will fall below three per cent next year.