Janota said that Finance Minister Vlastimil Tlustý, of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS), grossly exaggerated the debt figure used. The ads appeared recently in newpapers Hospodářské noviny, Lidové noviny and Mladá fronta Dnes as a warning to the public about the state of public finance, particularly potential losses in international arbitration.

Janota said the figure is inflated by dozens of billions of crowns. Tlustý had been accused of inflating the debt to make the departing Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) government appear irresponsible.

Tlustý said that the ministry's press department provided the figure stated in the advertisements — an estimated current national debt of 1.3 trillion Kč ($58 billion).

Measured by the European Union standards with which the budget was drafted, the national debt is less than 1 trillion Kč. The figure used in the ads includes the loss of failed Czech bank IPB, possible losses in international arbitration and environmental liabilities — all items not typically included in debt calculations.

Janota, who helped draft the state budget for the past 14 years under nine finance ministers, said that Tlustý's advisers had made up the 1.3 trillion Kč total. Also, he added, the 91.3 billion Kč state budget deficit drafted by the ODS Cabinet was the best possible figure available.

Tlustý dismissed Janota from his position after Janota called the full-page newspaper advertisements unfair and said the ads threatened national interests.

"The ads were one of the methods used to point out the existence of a problem in a situation where there are widespread attempts to hide the problem and not deal with it," he said.

Janota told Hospodářské noviny that the ads could "lead to the downgrading of the country's ratings and make payment of the debt more expensive."

"If we have to pay interest higher by a percentage point it will cost us 6 billion Kč more," he said. "These alarming ads are dangerous."

The Finance Ministry paid 816,090 Kč for the ads and plans to spend 5 million Kč more on similar ads, according to Czech Television.

Tlustý's chief adviser, Miroslav Zámečník, told Hospodářské noviny that the publication of the ads was not tactical and was meant to highlight the possible losses in international arbitration.