Though the Finance Ministry predicts that this year’s state revenues will be lower by €361 million compared to the approved state budget plan, Finance Minister Peter Kažimír still intends to bring the deficit down below 3 percent of GDP, the TASR newswire reported on February 8.
One of the sources that the ministry is relying on is the money gained from people who have recently left the second pension pillar, Kažimír said. The finance minister estimates that the sum may reach €250 million, but it is still not clear how much money the state will collect in this way.
The remaining shortfall of around €100 million will be resolved via binding the state expenditures on individual items instead of whole chapters as well as higher state revenues. These are not expected to come from people or businesses, but from higher dividends paid by state-owned companies, TASR wrote.
According to the Financial Policy Institute (IFP), which runs under the Finance Ministry, the tax and levy incomes of the state will be down by 0.5-1.3 percent of GDP in 2013-16, especially due to the macroeconomic situation. The overall negative effect on state incomes will reach €394 million, but more efficient tax collection should save €33 million, pushing the actual shortfall to some €361 million, TASR reported.
The opposition criticised the current prognosis and the drop in tax collection, saying that the incumbent government is having a destructive effect on the Slovak economy. According to Miloš Moravčík from the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH), Ivan Štefanec from the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ) and Ivan Švejna from Most-Híd, the advance warnings that the state will not collect as much in taxes as projected are already becoming a reality, TASR wrote on February 8.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
