2008 state budget approved

Parliament has approved the 2008 state budget. Of the 200 member lower house 100 deputies supported the bill, 97 were against. A single coalition deputy – Vera Jakubkova of the Green Party – refused to support the budget on the grounds that it fails to address pressing environmental concerns. She absented herself from the vote. The budget was approved thanks to two renegade deputies from the Social Democratic Party.

The 2008 budget proposal envisages expenditures of 1,107 billion crowns. With a projected deficit of 70.8 billion crowns the budget meets one of the basic EU criteria for adopting the euro - a deficit below 3 percent of the GDP. According to Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek the division of funds reflects the government's priorities in the field of science, research, education and infrastructure.