RPT-Budget director becomes new Czech Deputy FinMin

(Repeats story published late on Tuesday)

PRAGUE, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Bohdan Hejduk, a budget director at the Czech Finance Ministry, was appointed on Tuesday as Deputy Finance Minister for public budgets, the ministry said in a statement.

Finance Minister Vlastimil Tlusty picked Hejduk, 63, to replace Eduard Janota who was sacked last month amid a controversy over advertisements warning citizens about the mounting public debt.

Tlusty fired Janota, a long-standing fixture at the ministry, following press interviews in which the former deputy criticised Tlusty's advertisements as overstating the size of the debt and potentially harming the country's interests.

Financial markets will expect Hejduk to try to keep a lid on the burgeoning fiscal gap, which the ministry expects to widen to 4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2006, above the European Union's 3 percent threshold.

Hejduk could not be immediately reached for comment. ((Reporting by Marek Petrus; Editing by Ron Askew; 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 DEPUTYMINISTER