BRATISLAVA, April 8, (WEBNOVINY) — The general government in Slovakia closed last year with a deficit of 7.78 percent of GDP, according to preliminary data of the Ministry of Finance. The public finance deficit amounted to EUR 5.129 billion in 2010, which was EUR 1.423 billion or 2.3 percent of GDP more than the projection.
Nevertheless, this result still meant a slight improvement in the public sector management in Slovakia because in 2009, the public finance deficit represented as much as 8 percent of GDP. The overall public finance gap last year thus widened 5.6 percent of GDP to 41 percent of the GDP. In financial terms, the public finance debt reached EUR 26.998 billion at the end of last year. “This data still needs to be verified and approved by Eurostat and therefore cannot be considered final. The European statistical office Eurostat will release the final data on April 26, 2011,“ informed spokesman of the Ministry of Finance Martin Jaros.
The Ministry of Finance blamed several factors for exceeding the budget deficit projection for 2010. Objective reasons include worse-than-expected development of tax revenues and floods. “On the other hand, evident mistakes were made in projecting the 2010 deficit like artificial budgeting of balanced performance of municipalities or the fact that the Ministry of Finance led by ex-minister Jan Pociatek “forgot” to calculate several necessary items and thus artificially reduced the budgeted deficit in the pre-election period,” said Jaros.
The present government plans to significantly reduce the public finance deficit and squeeze it below the Maastricht limit of 3 percent of GDP already in 2013. The Ministry of Finance confirmed this objective in the three-year public administration budget and also in the current national reform program. The major portion of public finance consolidation is thus expected already this year when the deficit should fall from last year’s almost 8 percent of GDP to 4.9 percent. The government expects to slash the deficit to 3.8 percent of GDP next year and to 2.9 percent of GDP in 2013.
SITA