Czech state bodies and institutions’ key financial statements will be used to calculate the debt and deficit of public finances. Such highly sensitive information helps the markets predict whether the state can meet its commitments — but not all the data are wholly reliable, the Supreme Audit Office (NKÚ) warns. Clear definitions of basic accounting concepts are missing, which can lead to different interpretations of these categories and thus incomparable data. Look to Greece to understand what that can mean.

With billions of crowns in EU funding frozen, the Czech government is finally taking action. Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek (TOP 09) is planning to gather all the auditors responsible for controlling EU grant expenditure from various regions and regional bodies into a single unit within his ministry. According to a number of sources, however, the Finance Ministry holds its fair share of responsibility for misuse of EU funds and flawed surveillance.

The Finance Ministry’s anti-money laundering and financial crimes unit (FAU) says hundreds of millions of crowns which gambling and betting firms should have put into charitable causes was in effect embezzled. The daily Hospodářské noviny has  published the names of the firms against which the FAÚ has lodged criminal complaints.    

Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek appears to have put himself in the position of a lone barfly, at least as far as his proposal for excise taxes on wine. Everyone on the Czech political spectrum appears to be shunning the idea, even top members from his own party, TOP 09, have come out with undiluted condemnations. Kalousek, though, is not giving up for now.