The Finance Ministry is set to submit another set of consolidation measures in the upcoming few weeks designed to bring an extra €630 million to the state coffers, the ministry's State Secretary Peter Pellegrini told a press conference on Wednesday, August 15. These funds are needed to squeeze next year's fiscal gap to 2.9 percent of GDP, which is necessary for Slovakia's compliance with the EU's Stability and Growth Pact.
"We have exactly two months now to submit a Government-approved budget to parliament by October 15 whereby the deficit (in 2013) will be 2.9 percent of GDP," said Pellegrini as quoted by the TASr newswire. That said, the measures are not to affect the most vulnerable groups of people while its effect on economic growth should be as minimal as possible, he said. Pellegrini also projected that people's standard of living is expected to go up and real salaries should rise by some €17 next year.
The measures themselves, which are to be submitted for inter-ministerial comments soon, should include a rise in the income-tax rate for individuals with monthly salaries topping €3,246, and an increase in corporate income tax from 19 to 23 percent. Changes in the tax-deductible lump-sum expenses for the self-employed are also in the works. Apart from these tax-related – or revenue-generating – initiatives, the state will also adopt measures in other areas, said Pellegrini.
(Source: TASR)
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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