Slovakia plans to consolidate its public finances and expects its budget deficit to be smaller this year than the 4.7 percent of GDP forecast by the European Commission, Finance Minister Ján Počiatek said during a meeting of European Union (EU) finance ministers in Brussels on May 5 while agreeing that the EC's forecast of a 2.6 percent drop in GDP in 2009 was realistic, the SITA newswire wrote.
“There is a chance that this year the deficit will be smaller than the European Commission forecasts. We will make our own forecasts,” said Minister Počiatek, as quoted by SITA. He added that the country's debt requirements for 2009 were well-covered so this year's Eurobond issue was unlikely to exceed the planned €1 billion. SITA
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
