RRZ Revises Its General Government Deficit Estimate Up to 6 percent of GDP

Bratislava, November 30 (TASR) - The Budgetary Responsibility Council (RRZ) in November significantly increased its estimate of the general government deficit for this year to 6 percent of GDP. Its deficit estimate swelled by €539 million from October to €7.31 billion. The worsening of the estimate can chiefly be ascribed to the expenditure on the extraordinary allowance for pensioners, stated the RRZ in its latest prognosis. "Approval of the extraordinary allowance for pensioners amounting to €300 per recipient had the most significant negative impact on the deficit estimate compare to the previous prognosis. We expect the measure to have a budgetary impact of €439 million (0.4 percent of GDP)," said the RRZ. However, the positive deviation of the forecast from the approved budget for this year is still 0.4 percent of GDP. The risk of exceeding the projected deficit of 6.4 percent thus still remains low, stressed the council. The Finance Ministry in its latest prognosis estimates this year's deficit at €7.55 billion, or 6.2 percent of GDP. Compared to this, the deficit prognosticated by the RRZ is lower by 0.2 percent of GDP. Expenditure on government measures related to energy price compensation is expected to reach €2.967 billion, or 2.4 percent of GDP. Of this, €1.1 billion or 0.9 percent of GDP should be covered from EU funds. "After taking into account the budgetary reserve, the income from the solidarity contribution and the taxation of excess income from the sale of electricity, the overall negative impact of the measures on the deficit is lower than the budgeted amount by €1.469 billion, or 1.2 percent of GDP," added the RRZ. ko/mcs