New euro zone budget could help Slovakia

The finance Ministers of the EU countries are discussing the final details of a pool of money that would be earmarked for the euro zone and would support investment and reforms, reports the Reuters news agency. At their Wednesday meeting in Luxembourg, the Finance Ministers negotiated a budget for the EU countries using the common currency, to be set at around 17 billion euro starting in 2021. That is the euro zone's share of the 25 billion euro proposed by the European Commission to support reforms in the next EU long-term budget. According to Slovak Finance Minister Ladislav Kamenický, an agreement on the euro zone budget would mean good news for Slovakia. "The practical implications are that Slovakia could receive another hundred million euros to develop its competitiveness," said Kamenický on Wednesday. In addition, he believes these funds could also be used in economically stronger regions of Slovakia (e.g. Bratislava region), where euro funds can not be used.