Even if parliament doesn't approve the draft balanced budget that has been approved by the caretaker government, the draft will still have its purpose as it shows the state of Slovakia's public finances and how difficult it would actually be to achieve a balanced budget, Premier Ludovit Odor opined on Wednesday.
"Basically, it has to do with the fact that when the debt brake was introduced, the debt was somewhere around 40 percent of GDP, now it's closer to 60 percent of GDP. Unfortunately, that's where all the governments since 2010-11 have got us. It's also a report card for those governments that were in power during this period," stressed Odor. According to Odor, individual ministries are currently working on realistic budgets, which aren't based on the premise of a balanced budget. The moment parliament approves the manifesto of the next government, the debate on realistic budget alternative will begin, noted the premier.
"In such a case, the next government is free to decide whether and to what extent it will go for the recovery of public finances in the near term," remarked Odor.
If the next government does not gain parliament's confidence for any reason in the near future, parliament will still not approve a balanced budget, but at least the first months of the new year will be spent under a provisional budget. The premier warned, however, that a provisional budget can't be run for the whole of 2024.
(TASR)
