2024 state budget ended with deficit of CZK 271.4 billion

The 2024 state budget ended with a deficit of CZK 271.4 billion, the Ministry of Finance announced at a press briefing in Prague on Monday. The draft budget for last year originally envisaged a deficit of CZK 252 billion, but in October the lower house increased the projected figure by CZK 30 billion so as to cover the costs of the September floods. The resulting deficit is the lowest since the Covid-19 pandemic, but also the fifth highest deficit in Czechia’s modern history. At the press briefing, Prime Minister Petr Fiala praised the result, stressing that his cabinet had succeeded in gradually reducing the budget deficit, not only in absolute terms but also in relation to the GDP.