Finance minister: public deficit in 2010 below 5.3 percent

Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek has said that the deficit in public finances in 2010 will not exceed 5.3 percent of GDP. Speaking on Czech Television the minister said that the projected deficit of 163 billion crowns, which amounts to 5.3 percent of GDP, would not be exceeded and that optimistic estimates put the gap in public finances at 5.1 percent of GDP. The target for 2011 is a deficit amounting to 4.8 percent of GDP. The government is aiming for a balanced budget in 2016.