Next year's state budget approved by Parliament is the right step taken at the right time, as during these difficult times it's a stabilising factor not only for the governing coalition but also for the entire country, said Prime Minister and Smer-SD leader Robert Fico on Wednesday. He added that the coalition has shown that it can work in a professional manner and adopt important decisions.
According to Fico, it's important that the budget supports economic growth, maintains people's social standards, ensures continued assistance in tackling energy prices and allows for salary increases in the civil service and public sector. The planned deficit of 4.94 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) also complies with European fiscal rules.
"There's internal logic to all these decisions. If you think that we were improvising, you're very wrong. No one improvised here. This is a social democratic government [...] We didn't and wouldn't go for a balanced budget, because that's suicide," Fico declared.
The Premier criticised the opposition for failing to offer any alternative beyond going through the motions and criticising the government. "We were preparing to react to some alternative that the opposition might put forward, but no such alternative appeared. What did the opposition offer Slovakia in these difficult times? The opposition offered Slovakia a balanced budget," said the prime minister.
Hlas-SD party leader Matuš Šutaj Eštok considers the approved state budget for 2027 to be a stabilising factor for the entire governing coalition, enabling it to implement the government's manifesto. He described the budget as responsible, socially oriented and supportive.
The Hlas-SD leader highlighted the decision to maintain energy prices, support for hospital construction and pay rises in public administration.
The approved budget will help Slovakia move forward; the rest will be in the hands of the people, said House Vice-chair and SNS leader Andrej Danko following the approval of next year's state budget.
"I'd like to warn all those adventurers who are planning to appeal to the Constitutional Court. And I'd particularly like to appeal to the Constitutional Court to consider very carefully any decisions regarding intervention, whether in relation to the validity of a law or other matters," stressed Danko.
"I can't imagine anyone jeopardizing the running of the state. It could very easily happen that, if Slovakia doesn't have a national budget, its credit rating will be downgraded and, at the end of the day, the damage to the state will be much greater," he emphasised.
The opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) party considers the 2027 state budget to be unconstitutional and plans to challenge it in the Constitutional.
"The governing coalition has approved a budget by the narrowest possible majority and the budget is leading Slovakia towards bankruptcy. We couldn't support it — the budget increases our debt to €100 billion, it's unconstitutional and contains no growth-promoting measures," said MP and PS leader Michal Šimečka.
After three years of hikes in taxes, levies and fees, Prime Minister Robert Fico's government has submitted a budget that contains no measures to revive the economy, but instead continues to increase Slovakia's debt and is aimed primarily at keeping the governing coalition in power, the opposition SaS party stated following the approval of the state budget.
SaS also announced that, along with other opposition parties, it will challenge the approved budget at the Constitutional Court.
SaS Vice-chair Maria Kolikova warned that the approval of the budget was accompanied by serious procedural failings coupled with disregard for constitutional rules. She added that the government failed to respect the role of the Council for Budget Responsibility and prevented a proper expert and parliamentary debate.
Prime Minister Robert Fico is driving Slovakia into the hell of a record debt, and the public will foot the bill for how he's governing the state, said opposition 'Slovakia' party MPs Julius Jakab and Michal Šipoš in response to the 2027state budget.
According to the opposition party, Fico's government has approved a budget that means further record borrowing and betrays people. The government has been raising taxes and fees and telling people to tighten their belts, while treating itself to higher salaries and lifetime annuities, however.
Source: TASR
