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Miklos: Despite Bad Legacy in Finance We Produced a Good Budget
Thursday 23 September 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, September 23 (TASR) - Despite the difficult situation which the current Government inherited from the previous government of Robert Fico (Smer-SD), the Government has succeeded in preparing a good budget proposal for 2011 on time, said Slovak finance Minister Ivan Miklos (SDKU-DS) at a press conference in Bratislava on Thursday.
"A good (budget) because it ushers in the stabilisation of public finances, solution of the current bad situation and at the same time it offers preconditions for economic growth, more jobs and a higher standard of living," explained Miklos.
He said that the legacy of the former government in terms of public finances was dismal, when the deficit represented 8 percent of GDP in 2009, and it will be almost 8 percent this year too. "The preparation of the budget was made more difficult because former finance minister Jan Pociatek covered up and concealed the numbers, and no budget draft (for 2011) existed," said Miklos.
We therefore consider it to be impudent when the former premier Robert Fico criticises the current consolidation measures of the new Government. "The huge amount of waste and corruption did not emerge from us, but from Fico's government," he stated, adding that Fico utters statements without context when he claims that the prepared austerity package will slow down the growth of the Slovak economy.
Based on the current prognosis of the Finance Ministry, economic growth for next year will be slowed down from the original estimates of 3.8 percent to 3.3 percent. Miklos thinks this is just an temporary phenomenon. "If this consolidation wouldn't be carried out, economic growth would slow down significantly in the upcoming years," he stated.
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