Fiscal deficit was 264 million Sk at the end of April

The state budget showed a 264 million Sk shortfall as of April 30, following a surplus of 1.1 billion Sk at the end of March, the Finance Ministry said on May 4. State budget revenues were 60.841 billion Sk at the end of April, while expenditures equalled 61.105 billion. At the end of last year, the ministry changed the way it calculates the budget balance to exclude payments of the state debt principal. The ministry claimed this was in line with International Monetary Fund methodology. The ministry also said that due to the change in methodology, it was not immediately able to give comparatives for the first four months of 1997.