Kamenicky: Call for Ministers to Save Still in Place

Bratislava, September 6 (TASR) – The Finance Ministry has been continuously monitoring the development of individual budgetary chapters and it will react following publication of the data from the autumn macroeconomic development prognosis if necessary, Finance Minister Ladislav Kamenicky (Smer-SD) said in reaction to the 2Q GDP data published by the Statistics Office earlier in the day, as well as to warnings by the Budgetary Responsibility Council.

The latest figures released by the Statistics Office confirmed deceleration of the GDP growth to 2 percent.

The finance minister said that his call for cabinet ministers to save is still in place. “My call for saving means a kind of soft warning about constraint on their expenditures,” stated Kamenicky. He said that ministries should consider delaying some purchases until next year. “This has a big impact on the budget,” added Kamenicky.

The finance minister again admitted that the next year’s goal of a balanced budget is threatened, however, he said he’s not throwing a towel in the ring yet. He said that the Finance Ministry is intensively working on preparation of next year’s budget that will include expectations of this year’s economic development, as well.

In addition to deceleration of GDP growth, the planned balanced budget for next year that the ministry should prepare might be complicated by some measures that are being prepared by governing parties, such as reduction of the corporate income tax. Kamenicky noted that the ministry doesn’t have a possibility to influence the parliamentary talks and must respect coalition agreements, too.