BRATISLAVA, September 26, (WEBNOVINY) – MOST-HID leader and Deputy Speaker of the Slovak Parliament Bela Bugar announced on TV Markiza that the squandering of funds by the previous government resulted in the need for austerity packages passed by the incumbent Cabinet. In the political program “Na Telo” Bugar said that if the deficit reached about 8 percent of the GDP for the third consecutive year, then Slovakia would get close to the Greek path, adding that pensions in the debt-ridden country amount to and even exceed 1,000 euro, which is why people there retired earlier, while Slovakia would find itself in a catastrophic situation.
Former Prime Minister and Chairman of SMER-SD Robert Fico has rebuked the Cabinet of Iveta Radicova for putting large investment projects on ice and taking the path of price hikes. He pointed out that someone will have to pay for the next year’s plans and denied the need for austerity measures. According to him, Slovakia has witnessed a unique situation, which has never before occurred; after updating the estimates of the economic growth for this year, the Financial Affairs Institute stated that the GDP growth would be higher than Fico’s Cabinet planned. He underscored that when his government handed over the rule to its successor, Slovakia had the strongest economic growth in the EU. This fact disproves statements that his government wasted public funds. Fico admitted that his party counted on becoming part of the new Cabinet and, therefore, had no reason to behave irresponsibly. “We have not halted large investments, but the investments carried out by your Cabinet, Mr. Fico, were overpriced at least by one third,” countered Bugar. The incumbent Cabinet will continue in investments at lower costs, he added.
Fico also commented that the Iveta Radicova’s Cabinet has been opening cases linked with their predecessors because they cannot offer a concrete program. “The Public Procurement Office was under absolute control of the opposition, that’s why I cannot accept cries that something was like this or that,” he said. The center-right Cabinet has come up with a philosophy of black books, stated Fico. Bugar reiterated that the government is not writing any black books but if they have certain information, they must deal with it.
SITA
