Czech government approves public finance reform

The Czech government on Monday gave final approval to a public finance reform package designed to cut high budget gaps and stop the growth in Czech government debt. Cabinet approval was expected after the leaders of all three ruling coalition parties agreed late on Sunday on a final framework for the fiscal reform. The medium-term reform plan targets cutting the public finance deficit to four percent of GDP in 2006 from a record high of 6.2 percent this year. The public finance reform is also the main precondition for eventual adoption of the euro later in this decade.