PM warns against provisional budget next year

Prime Minister Petr Nečas has warned against a drawn-out debate on the government proposed tax hikes saying the country could find itself operating on a provisional budget next year. The prime minister defended the government proposed tax hikes, which the lower house rejected thanks to six rebels from his own party, saying that a final rejection of the bill would mean the introduction of a single 17.5 percent VAT which would increase the state deficit by 24 billion crowns. The prime minister ,who has sent the law back to the lower house linked to a vote of confidence in his administration, said in a televised debate on Sunday that should his government fall he would prefer to see early elections to a caretaker cabinet.