The Finance Ministry said on February 18 that the country's fiscal deficit (the overall state budget deficit after deduction of state debt principal repayments) totaled 12.02 billion crowns in 1997. Including debt principal repayments, the budget deficit was 37.0 billion crowns. Overall 1997 budget revenues totalled 180.8 billion crowns, 5.7 percent more than originally planned and 14.5 billion more than in 1996. Overall expenditures were 217.8 billion crowns, 4.7 percent more than planned and 25.9 billion crowns more than in 1996. State budget expenditures for 1998 have been set at 184.8 billion crowns, and revenues at 179.8 billion crowns, producing a projected fiscal deficit of five billion crowns.
