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Budget Deficit Fell Slighly to €2.4 billion in July
Monday 02 August 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, August 2 (TASR) - The state-budget deficit dropped from €2.439 billion in June to €2.408 in July, the Finance Ministry announced on Monday.
It should be noted, however, that a deficit of €914 million was recorded in July 2009.
A total deficit of €3.476 billion is projected for the whole of 2010, with the figure to July reaching 64 percent of this sum.
State incomes increased by 4 percent year-on-year to reach €6.035 billion in July, which represents 48 percent of the expected sum for the whole year of €12.531 billion.
Meanwhile, state expenditures exceeded the expected amount by 26 percent, reaching €8.443 billion or 52 percent of the planned sum for the whole of 2010 - €16.277 billion.
Slovakia's economic situation last year was affected considerably by the global economic crisis, which caused an economic slump of 4.7 percent y-o-y. This meant that the public-finance deficit reached 6.77 percent of GDP instead of the expected 2.1 percent.
The outgoing government committed itself to consolidating public finances in 2010. According to the public-administration budget for the next three years, which was approved by Parliament in November 2009, the deficit should have been reduced to 5.5 percent of GDP this year, to 4.2 percent in 2011, and below the 3-percent threshold required by the Growth and Stability Pact in 2012.
The ministry published a new prognosis later, however, according to which it won't be possible to meet this year's commitment. Without additional measures, the deficit is expected to reach 6.98 percent of GDP in 2010. Analysts warn that it could even exceed 7 percent.
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