Coalition does not find agreement over the hike in state deficit

The parliament on Thursday gave its approval for a recently proposed amendment to the State Budget Act to be dealt with via fast-track proceedings. The amendment stipulates that overall state budget expenditures are set to increase from the originally planned €23.9 billion to €27.3 billion, a hike of €3.4 billion. At the same time, the projected budget deficit is set to grow from the originally intended €8.1 billion to €11.4 billion. The increasing of the state deficit by billions comes after unsuccessful intra-coalition negotiations. The junior coalition party Freedom and Solidarity announced that it does not support the expenditure hikes of the Finance Minister Igor Matovič and thus will not vote for them. Matovič defends the increase in the deficit by claiming that the bill for the pandemic has been issued and thus must be paid.