Last year’s the financial performance of the Slovak state was better than the government had originally planned, according to preliminary results for general government spending and revenue presented by the Finance Ministry. The state deficit for 2011 was 4.6 percent of GDP, 0.3 percentage points less than had originally been predicted, the SITA newswire reported. The deficit in 2010 was 8.1 percent of GDP.
“We have radically consolidated public funds, creating conditions for having a functioning economy in Slovakia, which will bring more and better jobs,” said Finance Minister Ivan Mikloš, as quoted by SITA.
Slovakia’s deficit reached €3.186 billion, €262 million less that originally forecast. Mikloš said that 86 percent of public funds consolidation in 2011 came from spending cuts, and the rest from increased revenue.
“The basic costs of running the state were €1.2 billion lower than they would have been without consolidation,” the ministry added.
The final results of all EU governments should be made public at the end of March, when national governments have to submit their data to Eurostat, the statistics office of the European Union, SITA wrote.
Source: SITA
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
