Czech Republic’s new government sworn in 10 weeks after election

Coalition headed by Petr Fiala vows action to tackle Covid, inflation, high energy prices and budget deficit

A long post-election hiatus in the Czech Republic has ended after a new government took office, promising urgently to tackle rampant Covid-19 infection rates, inflation, energy prices and a ballooning budget deficit.

Ten weeks after decisively winning a general election, a five-party coalition headed by Petr Fiala, the new prime minister, was sworn in by the Czech president, Milo Zeman, who urged it do something useful" amid dire warnings of an incipient crisis in the central European country.