Coalition parties to discuss public finance reform

Representatives of the three Czech ruling coalition parties are to meet again on Sunday to try and agree on concrete steps to cut the country's large budget deficit. Leaders agreed last week to slash spending and raise taxes to turn around the deterioration of Czech public finances, which is hampering its aim to join the euro zone several years after EU entry in May 2004. A strong consensus on the reform is key for the survival of the weak coalition, whose 101 seats in the 200-seat lower house of parliament have proven an unreliable majority.