Slovakia's public debt, currently at 61 percent of GDP, remains well below the average levels recorded in both the European Union and the Eurozone, with eleven countries — including advanced economies such as Germany, Austria, Belgium and France — having higher public debt levels than Slovakia, Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) declared at a press conference on Tuesday.
"The average across the European Union is 82.8 percent. In the Eurozone, meaning the countries that use the euro, it is 88 percent," Fico said. According to him, these figures confirm that Slovakia has no problem with its public finances.
The Prime Minister rejected criticism that the government is not reducing state budget deficits sufficiently. He noted that the previous administration handed over the country to Smer-SD in 2023 with debt standing at 48 percent of GDP. The current debt level, he argued, is a success of the current government because, without fiscal consolidation measures, it would have been significantly higher.
Fico said growth in real wages is another important indicator. According to the latest data from the Slovak Central Bank (NBS), real wages are expected to rise by an average of 0.3 percent this year, while declining by 0.4 percent in the private sector. In 2027, the central bank expects real wages across the economy to increase by 1.2 percent.
Despite this, Slovakia remains among the EU countries with the lowest nominal wages. In Poland, for example, the average gross wage in companies rose by 5.8 percent year-on-year in May to the equivalent of €2,152.58.
The Prime Minister also criticised the media for what he described as insufficient coverage of positive developments. As an example, he cited Moody's confirmation on 19 June of Slovakia's A3 credit rating with a stable outlook.
Fico also dismissed reports of mass redundancies at some factories as attempts to alarm the public, contrasting them with the country's currently low unemployment rate and the high number of job vacancies. Anyone who wants to work can find a job, he said.
"We certainly do not live as badly in Slovakia as you write and as the Slovak opposition claims. I stand firmly by those words," Fico added.
In their response, opposition parties SaS and PS rejected the claims made by Fico and Finance Minister Ladislav Kamenicky (Smer-SD). They argued that the government was merely making excuses, comparing Slovakia with worse-performing countries and offering no real solutions. SaS MP Marian Viskupic pointed out that Slovakia ranks seventh from the bottom in the EU in terms of debt growth expected for 2025 and last, 27th, in the bloc's long-term fiscal sustainability indicator. He added that next year Slovakia will pay €3 billion in debt servicing costs and a further €6 billion in principal repayments.
Source: TASR
