Prague, Sept 2 (CTK) – The Czech Finance Ministry has raised expenditures by around 16 billion crowns to 1,155 billion in the draft state budget for next year compared with the June proposal, while the deficit remains at the projected 70 billion crowns, according to the government’s web page.
The data do not include money from EU funds and other financial mechanisms, which should total 94.5 billion crowns.
The government will start debating the draft state budget on September 9. It must approve it by the end of September and send it to the Chamber of Deputies afterwards.
The new draft state budget takes into account the updates of tax and social insurance revenues based on the July macroeconomic prediction and the increases in spendings that some ministries have negotiated.
Based on a better economic growth estimate, the Finance Ministry has raised tax revenues by nine billion crowns and social insurance revenues by 2.5 billion crowns.
This year’s budget was approved with expenditures 25 billion crowns lower, or 1,130 billion crowns. According to the government web page, the expenditures should rise to 1,214 billion crowns by 2018.
The draft state budget for 2016 and the outlook for several more years are based on the supposition that the deficit of public finances will not cross 3 percent of GDP, which is the maximal limit set by the EU for the adoption of the euro.
This means that next year’s deficit should amount to 1.2 percent of GDP, in 2017 to 0.8 percent and in 2018 it should be at 0.6 percent of GDP.
($1=24.040 crowns)
