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Fico: Austerity Would Be Directed toward Government Consumption
Tuesday 20 April 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, April 20 (TASR) - The economic crisis is resulting in lower tax revenues, but this doesn't concern only the state, but also cities, towns and villages, Prime Minister Robert Fico told a press conference on Tuesday.
He pledged that should the budget be short of funds, the Government is ready to introduce restraint measures on its consumption.
"When an economy's performance drops, collection of taxes follows suit. If we're short of money, we'll save to the detriment of the state. We'll never go against people," said the premier, adding that as long as his Smer-SD party wins on June 12 and forms the Government it will not raise the retirement age.
"Tax collection also affects cities, towns and villages, which continue to ask for extra funds from the state," he said. An extra €100 million was paid out to local administrations towards the end of 2009, while they continue to ask for more – notwithstanding the fact that they're not entitled to such requests, he said.
One way or another, the Slovak economy is treading a very good path. Ahead of reports concerning Slovakia's economic development in the first quarter of 2010, which are to be issued by the Stats Office in early May, Fico said that he expects figures on economic growth to be highly positive.
In line with recent reports by the Finance Ministry, the state-budget deficit rose from €780 million in February to €983 million in March 2010. In March 2009, the budget recorded a deficit of €205 million. A record-breaking deficit of €3.746 billion is projected for the whole of 2010.
The Government has promised an overall consolidation of public finances in 2010. The public-finance deficit should fall to 5.5 percent of GDP in 2010 and to 4.2 percent in 2011, according to a plan approved in November.
Slovakia should again meet the criterion of the Growth and Stability Pact, which calls for a public-finance deficit of no more than 3 percent in 2012. Finance Minister Jan Pociatek believes that this plan is ambitious enough to be approved by the European Commission, which requires Slovakia to comply with the required threshold by 2013.
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