Economics
Economic Rally Cuts Czech Deficit to Smallest Since Lehman
- Babis says government heading for `long-term balanced budget'
- Sovereign bond yields below zero reducing debt servicing costs
This article is for subscribers only.
The Czech Republic’s state budget deficit narrowed to the smallest in seven years in 2015 as faster economic growth boosted tax revenue and the country used more European Union funds.
The full-year central state budget shortfall shrank to 62.8 billion koruna ($2.5 billion) from 77.8 billion koruna a year earlier as tax revenue jumped by 72.2 billion koruna, Finance Minister Andrej Babis said in Prague on Tuesday. The result was below both the 100 billion-koruna plan for 2015 and the 70 billion-koruna limit laid out in this year’s budget. It was also the narrowest gap since 2008, when the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. triggered the global financial crisis.