2010 Central Government Budget

What exactly is the central government budget? What does it consist of and who draws it up? We will try to answer these questions in the following brief summary.

What is the central government budget?

The central government budget is defined by law as a set of financial relationships securing the funding of certain roles of the State during the financial year. The budget consists of expected revenues and estimated expenditure and is always prepared for the upcoming calendar year.

The final version of the budget takes account of the medium-term outlook of the two years following the year for which the specific budget is submitted.

What are the revenues of the central government budget?

Central government revenues mainly comprise taxes, income from insurance and social security contributions, income from a share of customs duties, income from operations of government departments and the contributions of organizations partly funded from the public purse, administrative and court fees, income from the sale and leasing of Czech property, yields from securities, and fines.

What are the expenditures of the central government budget?

The expenditure of the central government budget includes costs associated with the activities of government departments, the activities of subsidized organizations, pension benefits, sickness benefits, government social welfare benefits, cash donations abroad, purchases of securities, and expenditures on government loans.

Who prepares the budget?

The responsible authority is the Ministry of Finance, which works with the designated heading administrators, local authorities and State funds. The resulting draft law on the central government budget is submitted by the Ministry of Finance to the Government for approval; the Government then submits this bill to the Chamber of Deputies.

The Czech Republic’s central government budget has continuously posted a deficit since 1996. The Czech Republic’s government debt is currently more than 1.2 trillion crowns; interest alone costs the Czech Republic nearly 50 billion crowns a year. In the context of the current global economic recession, the public debt and the high share of mandatory expenditures in the budget place an unprecedented burden on the State. The Government has decided to present the Chamber of Deputies with a proposal for austerity measures and a budget with the lowest possible deficit.

Follow our website to keep track of the events and details surrounding the preparation of the central government budget.