Reaching the planned public finance deficit of 4.6 percent of GDP this year will be problematic because of a cash crisis in the health-care sector, Finance Minister Peter Kažimír said on Thursday, April 12.
"The demands emerging from the law [passed by the former government] on salaries of doctors and nurses could reach up to €200 million in 2012 alone. This puts the planned deficit of 4.6 percent of GDP at risk," Kažimír said. Other topics discussed by him and Prime Minister Robert Fico at their first official meeting included the drafting of the government manifesto, the crisis at the Financial Administration (i.e. tax offices) and consolidation of the public finances.
Turning to the complications at the Financial Administration, which arose when a new tax administration program failed to perform as expected, Fico said, as quoted by the TASR newswire: "We will consider it a big success if we have some news about the flow of money."
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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