Government faces additional budget cuts

The Czech parliament and a number of other government institutions will face higher budget cuts than anticipated. The lower house’s budget committee decided on Wednesday that the chamber has to cut its expenses by over 29 million crowns, nearly twice as much as a figure previously suggested. The new proposal was backed mostly by members of the government coalition. The head of the budget committee, Pavel Suchánek of the Civic Democrats, said that while some institutions may find the new cuts difficult, not approving them would have sent the wrong signal to other bodies which have already seen their budgets reduced.