Budget Committee approves CZK 500 billion deficit

The Committee on the Budget of the Chamber of Deputies approved the government’s proposed CZK 500 billion deficit in the Czech Republic’s 2020 budget on Friday, recommending that MPs in the lower house do the same. Prime Minister Andrej Babiš’s amendment to the proposal, which lowers the government budget reserve by CZK 100 billion, was also approved.

Originally, the deficit was expected to amount to CZK 40 billion, but was subsequently increased several times to reach CZK 500 billion during the coronavirus pandemic, which has led the state to implement largescale relief measures on Czech businesses primarily impacted by lockdown measures implemented to curb the spread of COVID-19 from March.