Czech budget deficit reaches 68.6 billion crowns by February end

The Czech state budget deficit widened to 68.6 billion crowns by the end of February, up from 11.2 billion crowns in January, the Finance Ministry reported. This marks the fourth-largest deficit in the country's history. Finance Minister Zbyněk Stanjura highlighted the year-on-year improvement, noting that last year’s deficit stood at 102.5 billion crowns at the same point.

State revenues grew by 8.6% to 296.5 billion crowns, while expenditures fell 2.8% to 365.1 billion crowns. Stanjura attributed February’s traditionally weak budget performance to early-year spending commitments but emphasized positive revenue trends driven by wage growth.