Labour minister hails public finance reforms a success

The Labour and Social Affairs Minister Petr Nečas has hailed the social reforms introduced by the government in January a success. Speaking on Thursday, Mr Nečas said that the reforms had saved the government over 10 billion crowns (688 million USD) in the first five months of their implementation. The government’s public finance reforms introduced healthcare fees in the Czech Republic, and altered rates of income and value added tax. Minister Nečas said on Thursday that these were only the first wave of reforms, and that he planned to bring more proposals to parliament this autumn.