Slovakia's fiscal consolidation programme has been functioning well so far and it can be expected that the country will meet the EU criteria of a public finance deficit under 3 percent of GDP in either 2013 or 2014, said Jozef Makúch, the governor of Slovakia's central bank (NBS) on January 26.
The government's current budget plan anticipates that the deficit will shrink from last year's 8 percent to 3 percent of GDP in 2013. The governor said the NBS appreciates the public finance consolidation programme particularly because it is difficult for the four-party centre-right coalition to reach agreement on individual consolidation measures.
"It's certainly positive and we can expect to meet the criteria definitely in 2014, if not in 2013," Makúch said, as quoted by TASR, adding that Slovakia needs to prepare for corrections in certain consolidation measures in the years ahead anyway as these are related to many areas in both budgetary revenues and expenditures.
The consolidation programme is likely to have effects on the country's economic growth, which could slow down temporarily, Makuch conceded. "We don't see this as negative. It's a side-effect of positive fiscal measures," he said.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
