Crucial reforms are necessary, Slovaks say, but they do not want to pay much for them, according to the Financial Policy Institute at the Finance Ministry in its commentary on the results of a Eurobarometer survey published within the regular quarterly report on the economic situation in the eurozone, the SITA newswire reported.
According to the survey, eighty percent of citizens of Slovakia thought in 2009 that
significant reforms are necessary to improve efficiency of the country’s economy but only 14 percent would accept financing them from increased taxes and 30 percent would agree with cuts in public spending to finance them.
Though eight in ten Slovaks think that domestic reforms are necessary, their perception of the need of reforms within the eurozone is relatively low, SITA wrote. The perception of the urgency of reforms by the Slovak public was the sixth lowest within 16 eurozone countries but with regard to the relatively lower economic level here the rate of perception of the need of reforms should be higher in Slovakia, states the Finance Ministry’s institute.
The institute explains that behind this phenomenon might be the fact that fallout of the economic crisis struck Slovakia later compared with other eurozone countries. If this assumption turns out correct, then the institute expects that the current rate of perception of need of structural reforms will be higher this year than in 2009, the institute wrote.
Source: 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.
