BRATISLAVA, August 2, (WEBNOVINY) — Business environment in Slovakia worsened again over second quarter of this year. The latest value of the Business Environment Index (IPP) that the Slovak Business Alliance (PAS) prepares based on its own survey is 84 points, the lowest value for over more than ten years of the history of business environment quality measurements. Compared with the previous quarter the index slipped by 3.46 percent. “Apparent is mainly dissatisfaction of the business community with the prepared changes to the tax and payroll levy burden. Expectations of businesses are marked by uncertainty multiplied by unpredictable steps of the government in the economic policy and also worries connected with possibly less active attitude toward solutions to problems of the business environment,” said the alliance.
The survey covering the second quarter of this year shows that businesspersons are most negative about changes to the legislation governing levies. The rating of this item dropped to 77.8, representing a quarterly decline of 8.8 percent. The alliance says that businesspeople do not conceal their concern over the planned readjustments of the levy system. They are dissatisfied too with the postponed promise to simplify levies, the step that is not yet in the sight despite repeated pledges from representatives of the executive branch. Instead, the burden on employees and employers is still heavier when new or increased levies are imposed,” says the alliance.
The second most remarkable drop was observed with the legislation governing taxes, fees and investments. The assessment of the item decreased in annualized terms by 8.64 percent to 89.5 points. Efforts of the government to stabilize public finances by extending the tax burden largely attributed to the negative evaluation of this item. The rating of the item of efficiency of the state management and attitude to state incentives worsened by 7.71 percent to be at 25.4 points and thus became the third most negatively evaluated item. The list of items with grave downturn includes also labor legislation that faces changes again that would deteriorate flexibility of the labor market. The list of items that reported improvement in the monitored period contains only few items regarding functioning of companies that went up including information openness of firms, environmentally-friendly attitude or behavior towards trade partners.
The base period for calculation of the Business Environment Index was July 1, 2001 with the index reference level of 100 points. Respondents assessed changes in the business environment for the first quarter of 2001 for the first time. Businesses associated in the alliance report annual sales of about EUR 16.9 billion and employ about 64,000 people.
SITA
