THE GOVERNMENT of Robert Fico will have almost Sk14 billion more to distribute for next year than was originally planned by the previous government thanks to better than expected economic development in Slovakia.
The Finance Ministry is already in talks with individual ministries about their budget priorities.
According to the Pravda daily, the draft budget for 2007 should be submitted to the government next week.
Slovak Finance Minister Ján Počiatek said recently that he would keep the public finance deficit at 3 percent of GDP next year and would also fulfill the conditions for the introduction of the euro in Slovakia. In an interview with the British Financial Times, Počiatek even said that he would resign should the government fail to meet the criteria for the introduction of the euro in Slovakia in January 2009.
Compiled by Martina Jurinová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.