Slovakia’s state budget posted a deficit of €1.977 billion over the three quarters of this year, the Finance Ministry reported on Tuesday. In September alone the gap slightly widened by €60 million, and in an annual comparison, the deficit was still lower by 23.5 percent, or by over €608 million.
The deficit reached 64 percent of the projected amount for the whole of 2013, which is better than the ministry expected with state expenditures being 8 percent lower on an annual basis. “The reduction in expenditures was mainly due to a drop in the costs of current transfers, which decreased by €726 million year on year. Within this section, the year on year reduction in costs related to the state debt reached €204.7 million. Capital expenditures were almost €164 million lower,” reported the Finance Ministry.
