The spending limits to which Slovakia has committed itself at an international level will probably not apply temporarily. The government is coming to Parliament with a concrete solution. If it finds a majority among MPs, the finance minister will free his hands. The solution lies in the so-called escape clause. The spending limits, which should already restrict next year's state budget, would simply not apply in times of an energy crisis. They would only come into effect once the crisis has passed. The opposition considers this the wrong approach. Spending limits are supposed to protect public money in the long term, and the sooner they come into force, the better.
Spending limits have been causing wrinkles on the foreheads of those in charge ever since Finance Minister Igor Matovič, presented next year's draft state budget in Parliament. As the budget did not contain them, Slovakia was in danger of losing hundreds of millions of euros from the Recovery Plan. The Government's promise to the European Commission was that Slovakia would introduce spending limits. Experts and the opposition are therefore pressing the finance minister and the prime minister to keep their word. The latter are now presenting a solution in the form of the so-called escape clause. According to Prime Minister Eduard Heger, spending limits will not apply in times of energy crisis. The Prime Minister also recalls that Brussels is not applying its rules temporarily to the budgets of the Member States. That is why the government is said to be going along with European policy. Limits will be reintroduced next year, when states will consolidate finances after coming out of a crisis.
“The solution that the government is coming up with is absolutely wrong”, says the head of the Finance Committee, Marián Viskupič from SaS. According to him, this is a by-passing of spending limits and should not be accepted by the European Commission. The absence of spending limits has also been criticised by the Council for Budget Responsibility.
Source: Matej Beránek, RTVS
