Daily: Finance Ministry readies to send out details of planned austerity measures

The Finance Ministry, the newspaper Lidové noviny reported, will soon send out the details of proposed austerity measures to government ministries and relevant institutions - cuts necessary to help tackle the deficit. Under the proposal, state expenses should be 28.2 billion less than previously expected by the end of the year; of that, savings of 10.2 billion crowns will come from individual ministries. According to the Czech daily, the Education Ministry will be among those that will have to save the most – more than three billion crowns in 2010; all 14 ministries will have to reduce their operational budgets by 2.5 percent. Institutions that will see cuts, meanwhile, include the Czech Academy of Sciences, the Constitutional Court, and the Office of the President. The cabinet will discuss the proposals next Wednesday.

Author: Jan Velinger