BRATISLAVA, January 3, (WEBNOVINY) – Slovak Republic’s state budget deficit was EUR 4.436 billion last year, according to the Finance Ministry’ data. In a year-on-year comparison, the state budget gap widened by EUR 1.645 billion. Total revenues of the state budget posted a modest increase of 3.4 percent to EUR 10.901 billion while expenditures at EUR 15.337 billion grew 15 percent from 2009.
In December, the deficit of the state budget widened by EUR 925 million. However, last month of a year is traditionally a period of the most considerable growth in the state’s expenditures. Despite this development, the deficit did not overstep the budgeted level set by the state budget law approved by parliament in late November 2010. The adjusted budget set the deficit at EUR 4.54 billion. Both revenues, which were EUR 966 billion lower from the updated projection and expenditures lower by EUR 1.07 billion thus lagged behind the enacted plan.
Tax revenue, which makes up a significant portion of state budget revenues posted a moderate y/y decrease of 0.8 percent in 2010 to amount to EUR 7.962 billion, meaning that the 2010 plan was met at 99.5 percent. VAT collection surged 15.2 percent y/y to EUR 4.432 billion, which was 0.8 percent less than the budgeted amount. The state recorded a 6 percent rise in collection of excise tax to EUR 1.945 billion, which was 0.3 percent less from the plan. Income tax paid by corporate entities posted a significant drop by 40.9 percent to EUR 1.258 billion, down 4.5 percent from the projection. Collection of withholding tax worsened by 2.2 percent to EUR 152.3 million. Personal income tax collection, which within the fiscal decentralization ends up almost entirely in the budgets of the municipalities, was EUR 139 million at the end of December.
SITA
