BRATISLAVA, May 4, (WEBNOVINY) — In his address during the debate on the program statement of the government of Robert Fico, former Finance Minister and MP for the opposition SDKU-DS Ivan Miklos said the new government is now facing a decision as to what social-economic model it would imprint on Slovakia in the next few years. He pointed out that in recent years the country’s direction was mainly determined by center-right parties and even during the first Fico’s government from 2006 to 2010 this has not changed, since in the first two years his government lived on record economic growth and later, despite the raging crisis, government spending continued rising.
„We are at a crossroads, Fico’s government will not be able to do anything because it will not have the money. It will not have record economic growth, and [excessive] borrowing and high deficits will also not be possible,“ said Miklos. He praised the commitment in the program statement to reduce the deficit, but is concerned it might contradict the many promises of giving „everything to everybody.“ He believes the large number of promises made it into the document because it was formulated on the basis of negotiations with social partners. „Basically, everyone will find there all he wants, in principle, the ambition is to satisfy all,“ said Miklos.
The center-right governments, according to Miklos, have contributed to the success story of Slovakia, which since 2000 had the highest cumulative GDP growth of all EU countries. Whether the neoliberal model is good or bad can be a subject of discussions, but according to Miklos, he definitely considers it successful. Miklos told his Social Democratic opponents in government that the model they often invoke of Scandinavian countries has changed dramatically since 2000, with a significant decline of the share of government expenditure on GDP and a declining debt.
SITA