BRATISLAVA, March 14, (WEBNOVINY) — SMER-SD leader Robert Fico says figures released by the Statistics Office confirm that the Cabinet of Iveta Radicova has decided to go down the absolutely wrong path. Fico commented thus on data on the development of consumer prices in February, released by the Statistics Office. “The Slovak government has nothing left to prevaricate,“ said Fico. SMER-SD asserts that the government’s inflation prognosis would only remain on paper and price growth would come near 4 percent this year. Former Finance Minister Jan Pociatek believes this will cause real wages to shrink and people’s standard of living to worsen.
SMER-SD representatives underscore that the statistics prove that measures adopted by the government negatively affect the most endangered groups of the population, as food and transport prices registered the highest year-on-year hike. SMER-SD intends to change this negative development in an unscheduled parliamentary session, which Speaker of Parliament Richard Sulik scheduled for Thursday.
“We maintain the position that the consolidation package contributed to the determination of food prices,” said Fico, emphasizing that the proposal the opposition is going to submit at the unscheduled session includes top issues on the party’s agenda: VAT reduction to 19 percent, reintroduction of a 6-percent VAT rate on food and products directly sold from farms, elimination of the state budget deficit by introduction of a special tax on banks and preventing privatization of heating companies. “We expect that the ruling coalition will ignore the unscheduled session,” responded Fico to statements by several coalition deputies confirming that they would not back the session.
As expected, the growth of consumer prices in Slovakia in February accelerated further. According to Statistics Office data, inflation measured by national methodology increased from 3 percent in January to 3.3 percent in February, which is the highest growth rate since February 2009. The growth of consumer prices thus confirmed analysts’ prognoses. Food and transport prices grew the most, while prices of furniture and clothing decreased in yearly terms. In month-on-month comparison, price growth decelerated from 1.9 percent in January to 0.3 percent in February.
After historically low inflation in 2010, which reached an average of 1 percent due to low demand during the crisis, Slovakia is resuming faster price growth. Bank analysts estimate a gradual increase in price growth to 3.8 percent in December. The Ministry of Finance expects inflation to stand at 3.4 percent this year.
SITA