PRAGUE (Reuters) – The lower house of Czech parliament approved raising the 2020 central state budget deficit to record 500 billion crowns ($21.21 billion) in the first out of three readings on Tuesday, as the government seeks funds to bolster the economy hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
The government had earlier increased the deficit plan to 200 billion and later to 300 billion, from the initially planned 40 billion crowns.
The latest proposed figure would be equal to around 9% of the country’s expected 2020 gross domestic product. That is before a potential additional impact of local budgets, the health system and other parts of the public sector is factored in.
(Reporting by Robert Muller and Jan Lopatka)
