The Government's package of social measures is to be put to Parliament for debate as late as June, leaders of the three parties of the governing coalition - Smer-SD, the Slovak National Party/SNS and Most-Hid - agreed on Monday. "It's been postponed in order to allow us to cut some proposals so as to reduce the impact on the state budget," said Most-Hid chairman Bela Bugar. His party is pushing for a reduction in payroll levies and an increase in the tax-free base for employees and the self-employed. Meanwhile the Slovak National Party (SNS) wants to cut taxes. Companies and self-employed having an annual turnover of up to €100,000 will pay 15 percent in income tax, while other companies will have the rate at 21 percent. The VAT rate should go down from the default 20 percent to 10 percent for selected foods, and public-service radio and TV licence fees for pensioners should be scrapped. Smer, which is the strongest governing party, wants to see an increase in parental contributions paid by the state by €150 for those who held jobs prior to going on maternity leave and €50 for those who didn't. It also plans the introduction of ten-day paternity leave for fathers after the birth of their child, along with five days off per year for accompanying a relative to see a doctor when their spouse is on maternity leave.
Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini claims that Monday's agreement of the coalition partners will be do-able within a balanced public finances budget. However, he did not give any numbers to reflect what the financial impact on the state budget will be. Opposition MP Jana Kiššová (SaS party), who is head of the Parliament's Committee for Economic Affairs, has criticized the proposals as simplistic promises made less than a year before parliamentary elections in order to counterbalance the drop in voter preference for all three parties of the ruling coalition.
