The Czech Republic’s next government may need to increase the budget deficit as the outgoing administration planned insufficient funding for a range of spending priorities, according to the winner of last weekend’s parliamentary election.
Billionaire Andrej Babis, whose populist ANO party dominated the ballot, said the 2026 draft budget needed at least another 60 billion koruna ($2.9 billion), mainly for infrastructure investment. The proposed plan envisages a shortfall of 286 billion koruna, which is higher than this year’s level because of more defense spending.
Andrej Babis
Photographer: Milan Jaros/Bloomberg
“Of course it will end up with a higher deficit, what else can ...
