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Pociatek Wants Constitutional Law to Limit Public Debt in Budgeting
Wednesday 27 January 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, January 27 (TASR) - The Finance Ministry wants to use a constitutional law to define the maximum level of public debt and to prolong the process of longer-term budgeting (from three years to four), as well as introduce binding limits for long-term budgetary expenditures.
Finance Minister Jan Pociatek revealed these plans after the Government session on Wednesday in Bratislava.
He noted that these plans are already included in the actual Stability Programme of Slovakia for 2009-2012, now approved by the Government and later to be sent to the European Commission.
Pociatek added that the ceiling for public debt projections in budgets spanning several years is still up for discussion. "However, it certainly will be set lower than the Maastricht Treaty defines it - that is, less than 60 percent," he said. "What number should it be exactly - it's still to be discussed. And also, we'll wait to see how market reacts to this," said Pociatek.
As defined in the Stability Programme, the Government wants to continue in consolidating public finance even after 2012, which is the date when public finance deficit is projected to slip below the 3 percent of GDP level required for countries to meet the Maastricht criterion concerning budgetary deficits. Currently, the deficit stands above 6 percent. The aim is to achieve a balanced state budget in 2015 at the latest.
The ministry claims these measures have to be taken in order to achieve a long-term sustainability in Slovakia's public financing – especially within the context of population ageing.
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