Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) believes that the draft budget for 2027 will be approved by Parliament, adding that it's not a budget tailored to a specific group or a particular industry, but was designed to ensure that Slovakia and its people can get through difficult times, TASR reported, citing a video he posted on social media.
MPs continued debating the government's draft budget on Monday. Opposition lawmakers have repeatedly criticised the proposal. Ondrej Dostál (SaS), an opposition MP, pointed out that the government had submitted a deficit budget despite Slovakia being in the highest sanctions bracket under the debt brake rules.
Finance Minister Ladislav Kamenický (Smer-SD), speaking on a weekend discussion programme on a private television channel, said the current Constitutional Fiscal Responsibility Act was not functioning properly and required systemic reform. He expressed confidence that Parliament would approve the budget on Wednesday, October 14, thereby avoiding political and economic uncertainty.
Addressing the requirement to submit a balanced budget, Kamenický argued that previous governments had rendered the debt brake’s sanction thresholds ineffective.
“Currently, the pressure to have a balanced budget is absurd, as this would require cuts of up to €7.5 billion,” he said.
Source: TASR
