THE CABINET approved the draft budget outlines for the next three years at its regular session on May 11. Based on the Finance Ministry draft, the amount allocated for wages in the public sector will remain frozen in 2012, with the exception of pay for teachers. The ministry also proposes other measures, such as increases in excise and property taxes, the SITA newswire reported.
The ministry fears that the measures included in the draft budget will not be sufficient to reduce the deficit to the planned 3.8 percent of GDP next year, and that additional measures to raise revenue or cut spending will have to be adopted. The biggest cuts are to be achieved by freezing the public-sector wage bill, saving €172 million.
The wages of teachers, meanwhile, will increase by 3 percent in 2012. According to Finance Minister Ivan Mikloš, the coalition parties had already agreed to this step and it was directly included in the budget outlines, SITA reported.
The budget outlines also include a 5-percent cut in the operating costs of the state, which should save €105.3 million, and a reduction in other state spending, which should improve the balance by €157.8 million.
The ministry proposes some 30 other measures to achieve an additional €200 million in savings which it believes will be necessary to squeeze the 2012 budget deficit to 3.8 percent GDP.
