The Czech parliament gave its initial nod to the 2023 state budget bill, setting the deficit at 295 billion crowns ($12.1 billion) as the country grapples with soaring energy prices and other impacts of the war in Ukraine.
The planned deficit -- which is the bulk of the overall public sector fiscal balance -- represents 4% of the country's gross domestic product estimated by the Finance Ministry for 2023.
Independent economists have been criticising the centre-right government for doing too little to slow the growth of debt, which is also driven by rising pensions and other costs not related to the war.
While the Czech Republic's debt was less than a half of the European Union average in 2021 at 41.9% of gross domestic product (GDP), the year-on-year increase of 4.2 percentage points was the fastest in the EU last year, a report by the Czech Republic Supreme Audit Office showed in August.
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