PRAGUE, June 10 (Xinhua) -- The Tripartite, a body comprised of members of the Czech cabinet, trade unions and employers, failed to reach consensus on the draft 2020 state budget on Monday, with employers criticizing the 40-billion-crown (about 1.8 billion U.S. dollars) budget gap and the trade unions demanding a higher salary rise.
"The budget has been drafted to reflect what the state can afford," Finance Minister Alena Schillerova said at a press conference after the Tripartite meeting.
Her ministry has projected the 2020 state budget with a 40-billion-crown deficit, expenditures of 1,594 billion crowns and revenues of 1,554 billion.
Teachers' wages are to rise by 10 percent and the wages of schools' non-teaching staff by 7 percent. Other civil servants such as clerks, police and firefighters, are to see their wages rise by 2 percent next year, according to the budget draft.
The employers are against the 40-billion-crown gap, saying that deficit would be tolerated if the money were used to strengthen education and innovation. They want teachers' wages to rise more steeply, by 15 percent next year.
They also ask for more state fund for transport infrastructure, saying that the lack of money in this regard will prevent Czech Republic from fulfilling its target of motorway network by 2030.
The trade union representatives disagree with the planned 2-percent increase in civil servants' salary and demand a 8-percent growth.
The trade unions, too, demand a 15-percent increase in the wages of teachers, a 10-percent increase for non-teaching professions and healthcare workers, and 8 percent for the rest of the civil servants.
They said the budget could raise money, for example, by adjusting the tax base of entrepreneurs to buy luxury cars.
The Tripartite will meet again to discuss the budget bill in mid-September. (one U.S. dollar equals to 22 crowns)
