Prague, Aug 28 (CTK) – The opposition anti-EU Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) movement will not back the latest 2019 state budget draft with a 40-billion crown deficit announced recently by Finance Minister Alena Schillerova (for ANO), which is by 10 billion lower, it said in its statement for CTK today.
The SPD says the 40-billion deficit is proposed in spite of the current economic growth.
“The reason for the deficit is a continued increase of expenditures on state administration, further draining of the state budget by political NGOs, continuation of a non-directed welfare system, which supports the maladaptable and enables a trade with poverty. The SPD movement will not support such a proposal,” the SPD writes.
The movement has 22 seats in the Chamber of Deputies with 200.
A lower deficit is possible thanks to the expected rise in salaries, and consequently also in taxes and insurance payments, Schillerova said on Sunday.
The rise in salaries in the public sector is to be discussed yet. The trade unions call for a 10-percent pay rise. The junior government Social Democrats (CSSD) support this requirement, while the senior government ANO opposes it.
The government presented its draft budget for 2019 with a 50-billion-crown deficit in June. The Finance Ministry then projected the total budget revenues of 1,432 billion crowns, which is 117 billion more compared to the 2018 budget, and the expenditures of 1,482 billion crowns.
The new budget draft should be published on the government’s website by the end of August. The cabinet should discuss it by September 19. The Chamber of Deputies should be presented the bill on the state budget by the end of September.