Preliminary figures indicate that Slovakia’s state budget posted a deficit of €2.3 billion at the end of June, €748 million more than in June 2011, the Finance Ministry announced on July 2 as reported by the TASR newswire.
"The bigger deficit was due to revenues being down 4.3 percent year-on-year and an increase in expenditures by 7.3 percent," TASR wrote in quoting the Finance Ministry statement.
The ministry said the drop in revenues could be ascribed to a temporary halt in payments coming to EU-funded Operational Programmes ordered by the European Commission.
"The increase in expenditures was caused by a rise in costs related to the state debt, transfer of funds to the state-run social insurer, Sociálna Poisťovňa, as well as increased payments to the EU budget," according to the ministry statement, as quoted by TASR.
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.
