Press Releases
22. 9. 200810:34
September 22, 2008: Government Approves a 330 CZK Rise in Pensions and Its Budget for Next Year
The members of the Czech Government today opened their meeting with a minute of silence. The cabinet of Premier Mirek Topolánek thus honoured the memory of the deceased Czech Ambassador to Pakistan Ivo Žďárek. The Ministers have approved, for instance, the Government’s budget with a deficit of 38.1 billion CZK, and a rise in old-age pensions to 10,000 CZK.
“Since education is a special priority of this Government we have decided to raise the funds earmarked for the chapter of the Education Ministry by one billion CZK in the approved budget,“ Premier Mirek Topolánek was quoted as saying after the Government meeting. As a result, the education sector is to be allocated 4 billion CZK for salaries of the teaching staff and another 1 billion CZK to cover priority programmes. The Government has approved a draft budget for next year with revenues amounting to 1,114 billion CZK, and expenditures totalling 1,152 billion CZK.
The Government envisages that next year’s average old-age pension will be raised to 9,985 CZK as of January 1, 2009, an increase of 1,146 CZK. “It has also been agreed to raise supplements to pensions, i.e. people engaged in anti-Communist resistance or those persecuted by the communist regime in the past will have their supplements raised by 4.4 % as compared with this year,“ added Deputy Premier and Labour and Social Affairs Minister Petr Nečas.
The Government has also approved the budget of the State Transport Infrastructure Fund, having taken note of the subject matter of the law on civil servants in the public administration sector, and approved an amendment submitted by deputies to the Road Traffic Act relating to an expansion of the list of vehicles subject to pay toll charges. On the other hand, the Government has rejected a motion by deputies M. Melčák, M. Pohanka, K. Sehoř and M. Šimonovský to amend law on the protection of nature and the countryside.