Czech parlt approves 1st reading of 2007 budget

PRAGUE, Oct 26 (Reuters) - The Czech 2007 draft budget passed the first parliamentary reading on Thursday, fixing the deficit for the year at 91.3 billion crowns ($4.05 billion) as proposed by the minority rightist government.

The draft was easily approved in the lower house with 155 deputies of the 179 present voting in favour after the leftist Social Democrats gave a last minute pledge to support the document in its current form, though only for the first reading.

The draft needs to pass two more readings in the lower house of parliament to receive final approval, but deputies can now only suggest changes within the fixed spending limit.

The approved deficit is slightly lower than this year's forecast shortfall, but it falls short of any fundamental reforms economists say are needed to prepare for euro adoption which is however not expected until after 2010. ((Reporting by Jan Korselt; Writing by Marek Petrus; Editing by Alan Crosby; Reuters Messaging: rm://marek.petrus.reuters.com@reuters.net; e-mail: prague.newsroom@reuters.com or marek.petrus@reuters.com; Tel: +420 224 190 477))

Keywords: ECONOMY CZECH BUDGET VOTE