Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico presented his cabinet's program to the parliament and requested that deputies support his team.
Fico says that his program is realistic and that he insists on supporting a knowledge-based economy which could end the era of cheap labor, the daily SME wrote.
The cabinet has confirmed its plans to impose higher taxes, or the so-called millionaire tax, on people with above-standard incomes exceeding Sk50,000 or Sk60,000.
Fico explained that all European countries currently tax higher incomes at a higher rate. In Slovakia, the millionaire-tax would affect about 40,000 people.
Silvia Čechovičová, analyst with the ČSOB, does not think that the millionaire tax is the right solution for filling the state coffers because it could discourage people from working and trying to earn more.
The opposition agreed not to support the program of the Fico cabinet.
Ex-finance minister and Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ) deputy Ivan Mikloš said he sees deep controversy in the program when on one hand the cabinet pledges to meet the Maastricht criteria but on the other hand it proposes increasing budgetary spending without compensating for the losses.
Mikloš considers the obligation to enter the monetary union in 2009 unrealistic if the cabinet is to meet even a part of its promises.
I would not want to sit in the chair of the Finance Minister when they shape the state budget if they were serious about their promises, Mikloš said.
Compiled by Martina Jurinová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
