Czech Parliament Approves State Budget for 2026 with Deficit of 310 Billion Crowns
The governing coalition pushes the budget through the Chamber of Deputies with its majority – criticism comes mainly from the opposition
Foto: Ministerstvo financí ČR
The Czech Parliament has approved the state budget for the current year. The budget foresees a deficit of 310 billion crowns and was adopted with the votes of the governing coalition.
The Czech Chamber of Deputies has approved the state budget for the current year. The budget foresees a deficit of 310 billion crowns. 103 MPs from the governing coalition voted in favour of the proposal, while 88 opposition MPs voted against it. The budget will now be sent to President Petr Pavel for signature, who has already announced that he will not veto it.
The state expects revenues of just under 2,118 billion crowns this year – around 31.7 billion crowns more than in the previous year. Expenditure is set to rise at the same time by about 100.7 billion crowns to nearly 2,428 billion crowns. Last year, the budget deficit stood at 291 billion crowns.
Finance Minister Alena Schillerová stressed in her speech before MPs that, unlike in previous years, the approved budget reflects the actual state of public finances. “After four years, the Chamber of Deputies is once again debating a budget that does not conceal the real condition of the state finances and does not pretend a lower deficit by simply excluding unavoidable expenditures,” the minister said.
The deliberations on the budget took several hours in Parliament. While the first reading lasted around 14 hours and the second about twelve hours, MPs spent another roughly nine and a half hours on the final third reading. With the approval of the budget, the provisional budget regime can now also be ended.
Further decisions on state funds
In addition to the state budget, MPs also approved the budgets of several state funds. The State Fund for Transport Infrastructure is expected to have around 169 billion crowns at its disposal this year.
The State Audiovisual Fund plans revenues of 2.4 billion crowns and expenditures of 2.07 billion crowns, of which 1.55 billion crowns are to be allocated to film support programmes. The State Investment Support Fund expects revenues of 3.28 billion crowns and expenditures about 200 million crowns lower.
The State Agricultural Intervention Fund will have resources of around 45.3 billion crowns. In addition, farmers are to receive national support amounting to four billion crowns – around 250 million crowns more than in the previous year. The Environment Fund plans revenues and expenditures of around 45.6 billion crowns each, remaining at a similar level to last year.
