Finance Ministry expects public finance deficit to drop to 3% GDP this year

The Czech Finance Ministry expects the public finance deficit to drop to 3% of GDP this year from 3.1% in 2011, according to the ministry’s fiscal outlook, which was released Thursday. A deficit of less than 3% GDP is one of the conditions for adopting the euro. Last year, the deficit fell to 3.09% from 4.83% in 2010. These figures show that the fiscal outlook is in line with the plan the cabinet outlined in its updated Convergence Programme from April, sent to the European Commission. The deficit is expected to reach 2.9% GDP in 2013 and 1.9% in 2014, according to the ministry's estimates. Public sector finances should be balanced in 2016.