President Miloš Zeman has endorsed the draft state budget but expressed some reservations, calling out “unnecessary expenditures”, chief among them for promoting renewable energy resources.
Zeman’s comments came in a speech before a vote at the lower house of Parliament on the draft budget, which proposes a deficit of 40 billion crowns for both this year and in 2019.
Opposition parties have criticised the ANO-Social Democrat coalition government for promoting deficit spending during a time of economic growth. A vote was not expected until late evening Wednesday or the early hours of Thursday.