The Czech government will not curb the economy even if it slows down but will instead pump more money into services for people, wages and investments, said Prime Minister Andrej Babiš before the final vote on the 2020 state budget bill.
Consequently, the Chamber of Deputies approved the state budget with an expected deficit of 40 billion korunas (€1.6 billion). Overall, 108 MPs, mainly from ANO, ČSSD, and KSČM, voted for the budget proposal. However, to finalize the vote, President Miloš Zeman still has to sign the budget proposal.
As the vote on the state budget is a complex process, it was divided into sections. In these partial votes, MPs increased financial support for social services and smaller municipalities, which need money for the construction and repair of schools and apartments.
The Ministry of Finance proposed total expenditures of 1.618 trillion korunas (€64.72 billion) with expected revenues of 1.578 trillion korunas (€63.12 billion).
“The draft budget is very good. It is pro-investment, we are pumping money into the economy. The deficit is low, we are reducing the debt, and increasing partial budgets,” Babiš said while summing up the budget proposal.
In his speech in the Chamber of Deputies, Babiš spoke about details of the budget proposal for three hours, and although the draft found its critics, Minister of Finance Alena Schillerová said that she stands behind it.
The next year’s expenditures of the government include increasing pensions, teachers’ salaries, and parental support as well as boosting the budget of the Ministry of Defense.
However, the draft budget expects a slowdown in real GDP growth from 2.4 percent to 2.2 percent this year, with analysts counting on domestic demand to provide enough stimulus for continued growth.
