Outgoing government approves budget framework

The outgoing government of Vladimir Spidla on Wednesday approved an outline of next year's state budget, including the revenues and expenditures of individual ministries, but failed to agree on the size of the public finances deficit. Work on finalizing the 2005 state budget proposal has thus been left to the new Cabinet. The approval of basic parameters should enable individual ministers to draft budget proposals for their respective ministries, which will also be handed over to their successors in Cabinet. The fact that the emerging cabinet is a continuation of the three-party governing coalition should enable a fairly smooth transition.