Czech Cabinet Approves Nearly 300 bln CZK Budget Deficit Expansion

The Czech cabinet on Monday approved an amendment to increase the state budget deficit to 300 billion CZK (11.92 billion U.S. dollars), the Ministry of Finance said in a press release.

It’s the second time the Czech government plans to readjust its state budget this year. In March, President Milos Zeman signed into law a budget expansion up to 200 billion CZK (7.95 billion U.S. dollars).

“The crisis situation persists and there is a further fall in income, which is why this amendment is absolutely necessary to save our economy. We have come up with a number of measures to help both employees, entrepreneurs and businesses,” said Finance Minister Alena Schillerova.

The latest amendment to the Act on the State of Budget for 2020 is based on the updated macroeconomic forecast published by the Ministry of Finance, the ministry said.

The newly proposed budget will contain a total of 1.4282 trillion CZK (56.76 billion U.S. dollars) in revenue and 1.7282 trillion in spending (68.68 billion U.S. dollars), leaving a state budget deficit of 300 billion.

The state now predicts further losses of tax revenue and plans to increase benefits and provide debt relief, the ministry said.