BRATISLAVA, September 2, (WEBNOVINY) — Consolidation effort of Slovakia’s center-right government should result in a reduction of the general government deficit to 4.9 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) next year. Finance Minister Ivan Miklos (SDKU) told Thursday’s news conference that the deficit should go down to 3.9 percent of the GDP in 2012 and find itself below 3 percent of GDP as defined within the Maastricht Criteria in 2013.
The department expects a worse economic performance of the public sector this year and revised the deficit outlook, initially estimated at 5.5 percent of GDP, up to 7.8 percent of GDP. A part of the excessive deficit is attributable to hardly foreseeable factors. However, the incorrect preparation of the draft budget for 2010 plays a significant role in the unsuccessful budget plan fulfillment.
Activities of the government under of the previous Cabinet of Robert Fico can be best described by the phrase: “they lied and stole”, said Miklos, who based his accusations on the latest findings at his department. He said that the new Cabinet found many instances of overpriced contracts and scandalously costly public procurement at all ministries. The previous government lied about the state of general government finances, which is much worse than the information provided by Robert Fico’s Cabinet before the parliamentary elections in June.
Higher deficits of the general government compared to the initially proclaimed figures prove the sick condition of public finances. Last year’s deficit will eventually hit 8 percent of GDP instead of the originally reported 6.8 percent. This year’s gap will also exceed the initial estimates.
The 2009 general government deficit was to reach 6.8 percent of the GDP, according to preliminarily confirmed data. The Cabinet of Robert Fico counted on fiscal consolidation that was supposed to lower the gap to 5.5 percent of the GDP this year. Shortly before the elections, former Finance Minister Jan Pociatek admitted that the gap could climb to 7 percent of GDP.
SITA