Finance minister warns 2010 budget deficit could reach 7% of GDP without government intervention

Finance Minister Eduard Janota has warned that, without government intervention, the budget deficit in 2010 could reach some 256 billion crowns (14.12 billion USD), which constitutes seven percent of GDP. Speaking on Czech Radio on Saturday, Mr Janota added that this would be a very bad outcome, on a level with the current economic situation in Hungary. The finance minister said that the government must make some legislative changes, increasing the amount of money coming into state coffers and making extensive budget cuts across the board if this situation was to be avoided. He added that the Finance Ministry would be proposing such legislation to Parliament in due course. Mr Janota said that it was important that changes were made but that, ahead of early elections in the autumn, he was in no doubt that such changes would only be made with difficulty.

Author: Rosie Johnston