Slovakia’s general government deficit should amount to 1.2 percent in 2020. This will mostly be the result of the introduction of government fiscal measures decreasing the tax burden and introducing minimum pensions, according to the Autumn 2019 Economic Forecast issued by the European Commission.
The Peter Pellegrini government, however, expects it to rise to only 0.49 percent of GDP, as stems from a draft sent to Brussels. As a result, the EC has told the cabinet that it is sceptical of the government's plans to reduce the deficit, the Denník N daily reported.
The EC based its prediction on the fact that the Slovak economy will rise by only 2.7 percent of GDP this year, and by 2.6 percent in 2020. This is a slightly higher growth estimate than the Slovak government's, which predicts the economy will rise by 2.4 percent this year, and by 2.3 percent the year after, Denník N wrote.