Finance Minister Igor Matovič (OĽaNO) after parliament passed amended state budget. (source: TASR)
Parliament approved on Friday, May 28, an amendment to the 2021 state budget, increasing budgetary expenditures by more than €3.7 billion. This is almost €351 million more than the government originally proposed.
Out of 127 present MPs, 79 voted for the bill, 37 were against and 11 abstained. MPs of the ruling coalition parties OĽaNO, Sme Rodina and Za Ľudí voted for the amendment. MPs of the junior coalition party SaS abstained and the opposition parties of Smer and ĽSNS and non-partisan deputies voted against it, the TASR newswire reported.
Along with expenditures, the general government deficit will increase too, up from 9.9 percent to more than 10 percent of the GDP. The reserve to cover any adverse effects of the pandemic was increased to €2.7 billion.
