The chairmen of the ruling coalition parties (Smer, the Slovak National Party (SNS) and the ĽS-HZDS) have come to an agreement on a final draft of the 2009 state-budget, Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer) said at a press conference at ĽS-HZDS headquarters on October 14.
According to Fico, the draft's details and the modifications will be presented after the government session on October 15, at which the budget will be discussed.
"The state-budget proposal should be passed smoothly, without any significant discussions," Fico said, emphasising that the government will maintain the projected public-finances deficit for 2009 at 1.7 percent of GDP "at any cost".
The prognosis for economic growth in 2009 stands at 6.5 percent, and there are no reasons to reconsider this, he said. TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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