Budget Committee suspends debate on 2026 state budget

The Budget Committee of the Czech lower house met for the first time in its new post-election composition to discuss the 2026 state budget submitted by the outgoing coalition government of Petr Fiala (Civic Democrats). After roughly four hours of debate, the committee suspended proceedings and will resume on Monday, November 24, the Czech News Agency reported.

The suspension was proposed by Alena Schillerová (ANO), likely next finance minister, who argued that the draft budget fails to cover mandatory, legally required and key investment expenditures totalling CZK 95.9 billion (EUR 3.8 billion). Outgoing Finance Minister Zbyněk Stanjura (ODS) defended the proposal as “realistic” and focused on investment.

Committee chairman Vladimír Pikora (Motorists' Party) did not rule out the possibility that the incoming ANO, SPD and Motorists' Party coalition could draft its own budget.