Zásady vyrovnanosti veřejných rozpočtů v České republice v první dekádě 21. století
Principle of Balance of Public Budgets in the Czech Republic in the First Decade of the 21st Century

Summary/Abstract: I assume that the principle of balance of public budgets should be embedded in the legal regulations of the Czech Republic in a better way. The Budgetary Rules Act does not mention this principle at all; the Budgetary Rules of Local Budgets Act only recommend it. In this relation, it would be more suitable to embed the principle of balance of public budgets right in the Constitution of the Czech Republic. In such case, the aforementioned situation concerning the state budget should not happen, because it could have been determined as unconstitutional. The legislator would have to abide by the constitutional rule that every public budget shall be balanced in a long-term view during the adoption of the state budget act. As a result of the financial crisis, the state debt of the Czech Republic will deepen further and also the deficits of state budgets will be higher. In the current time of economic recession, the budgets may be structured and adopted as deficient, but in times of economic growth, they should have a surplus again. Unfortunately, in the Czech Republic in the period of economic growth, deficient state budgets have been adopted which is the biggest problem I see. The deficits of state budgets in 2009–2012 will then be so high that the Czech Republic will not be able to fulfill the Maastricht convergence criterion of a maximum of 3% proportion between the planned or real deficit of public finance and the gross domestic product in market prices. It is positive, that the government intends to reform public finances with the aim to stop the growing public debt and set the parameters of budgetary policy to reach (assuming economic growth) the balance of public budgets in 2016. The government supposes to adopt the Constitutional Act on Budgetary Discipline and Responsibility and to create the National Budgetary Board, but not to anchor the principle of long-term balance of public budgets in the constitutional order.

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