House Approves State Budget for Next Year, Deficit Should Drop to 7.4%
Bratislava, December 9 (TASR) – Parliament passed the law of the year, i.e. the draft state budget for next year, on Wednesday.
Ninety-one of the 141 lawmakers present voted for the draft, while one refrained from voting and 49 MPs voted against.
Along with the state budget draft for 2021, Parliament also acknowledged a budget draft for 2021-23.
Slovakia’s general government deficit should amount to 7.41 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) next year, somewhat down from the 9.68 percent of GDP earlier estimated for 2020. The country’s gross public debt should thus climb to 65 percent of GDP next year.
The Finance Ministry pointed to the fact that the budget draft was prepared under the demanding conditions of the coronavirus pandemic. Deficits are thus envisaged for all three years concerned. However, the deficit should gradually decrease to 6.18 percent of GDP in 2022 and further to 5.72 percent in 2023.
If the general government deficit is to be reduced to zero in 2023, as stipulated by the existing law on the debt brake, consolidation measures worth €6 billion will be needed, noted the Finance Ministry.
