FinMin: Draft state budget will undergo modifications

Next year's draft state budget will definitely have to undergo some adjustments with regard to the steps that are currently being discussed in the parliament, Finance Minister Ladislav Kamenický (Smer-SD) said following the Cabinet session on Wednesday. Kamenický stressed that the Finance Ministry had been monitoring all the parliamentary proposals with an impact on the budgetary expenditure. At its session on October 14, the Cabinet approved the draft budget, according to which the general government deficit should account for 0.68 percent of GDP this year to decrease to 0.49 percent of GDP in 2020. The gross state debt should fall to 47.9 percent of GDP this year, bringing it below the lower sanction zone. In line with the draft budget, the gross debt will go down by an additional 3.1 percentage points (p.p.) of GDP to equal 44.8 percent of GDP at the end of next year.