Opposition SaS voted for the state budget under the condition that Igor Matovič quits as finance minister. (source: Sme - Jozef Jakubčo)
Slovakia approves state budget for next year before year's end after all.
The Slovak parliament passed the budget drafted by Finance Minister Igor Matovič (OĽaNO), with amends following the agreement with the opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS), which refused the original proposal. In the end, 93 MPs voted to pass the budget (while the simple majority of 76 votes was needed in the 150-strong parliament). The budget now contains a public spending limit, the scrapping of fees that people in Slovakia pay for the public-service broadcaster, and an additional more-than €800 million has been assigned to health care.
"It's a real Christmas present for the people," PM Eduard Heger wrote on Facebook as he thanked the MPs for passing the budget, calling it a compromise budget. "It may not be ideal, but it's the only one we were able to pass given the circumstances. It proves that my government puts ordinary citizens first, instead of oligarchs or its own interests."
Based on the budget, the public finance deficit should increase to 6.44 percent of the GDP in 2023, from this year's almost 5 percent. The deficit adjusted for temporary effects corresponds to the level of 3.1 percent of GDP, close to the estimate for the current year (2.9 percent of GDP), the TASR newswire reported.
MP Romana Tabak startled her colleagues when she fired confetti in the house to celebrate the passing of the budget. A committee will deal with her behaviour. (source: Sme - Jozef Jakubčo)
State budget revenues are to represent €26.7 billion, while expenses are estimated at €35 billion. The budget's cash deficit is expected to reach €8.3 billion in 2023.
The total public administration revenues should reach €50.6 billion and expenses €58.5 billion next year, with a deficit of €7.9 billion, according to TASR.
