Slovak News Back to the news
Radicova: Many Challenges Waiting for Government in 2011
Monday 03 January 2011 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, January 3 (TASR) - The biggest challenges for the Government this year are unemployment, regional inequalities, the construction of motorways and public infrastructure, the creation of new jobs with added value, and investments in education, innovation and new technologies, Prime Minister Iveta Radicova has told TASR.
According to Radicova, another goal should be to ensure a qualified labour force with access to health care. "I'm not saying that we can provide all this within a year, but we'll be taking the first steps so that we can respond to these challenges," she said in the interview.
Radicova at the same time expressed her hope that the measures to consolidate public finances planned by the Government will be maintained. The state deficit should fall from 7.8 percent of GDP in 2010 to 5 percent this year, while the 3-percent threshold required by the EU budgetary rules should be reached in 2013. "If this governing Coalition works, if we manage to meet the priorities on which more [financial] means should be spent and which should help to kickstart growth in employment and the creation of new jobs, if the eurozone is stabilised, then I would dare to say 'yes' [we'll manage it]," she added, referring to the chance of achieving this goal.
Another possible change that Radicova pointed to was a reduction in the levy burden, which she views as one of the barriers to employment growth. Measures are being prepared by an expert group that she created for this purpose. "Their assignment is to change the levy reform in a way that will ensure that the net income of an specifically-defined group of the population will be increased and that we'll also provide a certain amount of relief to employers. We currently have two solution scenarios. This is a task for the Coalition Council, which I will summon to deal with this issue," added Radicova.
All rights reserved. Any publishing or further dissemination of press releases and photographs from TASR's resources without TASR's prior written approval constitutes a violation of the Copyrights Act.
