ČTK

Finance Ministry Agrees With EC Recommendation

European Commission, European Union

Prague, May 23 (CTK) – The Czech Finance Ministry agrees with the European Commission’s (EC) recommendation regarding public finance sustainability and administrative burden reduction, the ministry said today.

 

In reaction to the EC’s recommendations to the member states, the ministry said it welcomed the fact that the EC had no recommendations for the fiscal policy because of a public finance surplus and low debt.

 

The EC said the Czech Republic should improve public finance sustainability this and next year, the reason being a risk posed by the pension system. It should also reduce bureaucracy that limits investment opportunities, said the Commission.

 

The ministry agrees with the need to secure public finance sustainability, showing medium risks in a long-term horizon, especially in pensions.

 

It seeks to raise transparency and effectiveness of the public procurement process and to take more steps to prevent corruption so as to make public spending more effective, the ministry said.

 

It is also necessary to speed up the approval process for large construction projects, the ministry added.

 

Within the EU, the country has the 4th lowest debt in the government institutions sector that ran a surplus of Kc80.6bn last year, the ministry said, referring to its good budget policy.

 

The Commission said the Czech Republic meets two out of four economic criteria for euro adoption, and fails to fulfil the price stability and the exchange rate criteria.

 

All EU members have to join the euro. However, there is a consensus on the Czech political scene not to adopt the euro presently.