President Klaus signs 2009 state budget

President Vaclav Klaus on Friday signed the law on the 2009 state budget, approved by the lower house last week. The president signed the bill into law despite the fact that he questioned the estimates on which it is based, saying that the government should have revised the figures with regard to the global financial crisis. The budget, which envisages a 38.1 billion crown deficit, is based on a growth forecast of 4.8 percent, a figure that experts say is unrealistic. Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek later admitted that the estimate was misleading and the deficit could reach 60 billion crowns or more. However analysts say that having a budget framework is in itself positive at a time of economic uncertainty.