The Finance Ministry predicts in the 2014 draft state budget that Slovakia’s public debt will grow to 56.9% of GDP in a year. This is shy of the limit at which the government should compile a budget with costs lower than revenues, as stipulated by law. Member of the Council for Budget Responsibility, Michal Horvath, pointed out that the debt projected in the budget should be somewhat higher. The ministry did not include debts of hospitals estimated at €100 million.
Horvath added that “together with this amount, the debt prognosis would tightly exceed the 57% limit in 2014”. That would mean that the government would have to prepare a balanced budget with a zero deficit for 2016.
Christopher George
