The public administration deficit in Slovakia saw a year-on-year increase to almost €6 billion, whereas its share in GDP swelled from 1.7 percent in 2022 to 4.9 percent in 2023, the Supreme Audit Authority (NKU) warned in its report presented to the House Finance Committee by NKU head Lubomir Andrassy on Tuesday.
Andrassy warned the legislators that the rate of Slovakia's debt is higher than the EU average, with only five other countries faring worse: Poland, France, Romania, Hungary and Italy.
The overall public administration debt in 2023 stood at €68.83 billion, which amounts to 56 percent of GDP, and recorded a y-o-y increase by €5.45 billion. On the other hand, real GDP went up by 1.6 percent - the fastest growth seen among the Visegrad Four (V4: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia) countries. The inflation rate dipped in 2023, with the growth in food and energy prices cushioned mostly by governmental compensation measures. The head of NKU underlined that the state financial governance "would benefit from the application of public expenditure caps".
(TASR)
