2025 Consolidation to Be Facilitated by Taxing Tobacco & Sweetened Beverages (2)

Bratislava, April 8 (TASR) - Slovakia next year will consolidate its public finances at a level of 1 percent of GDP, or €1.4 billion, said Premier Robert Fico and Finance Minister Ladislav Kamenicky (both Smer-SD) on Tuesday. The consolidation will be partially facilitated by taxing tobacco products and sugar-sweetened beverages, which should generate an extra €100 million for the state budget. According to Fico, the coalition parties have agreed on these two measures. Further measures meant to facilitate the consolidation will be discussed at an upcoming meeting of the governing parties. Fico said that he's proposed significant reductions in the number of civil servants, but there has been no agreement on this within the coalition yet. Fico stated that his government inherited the worst public finances in the EU. "Regarding the consolidation package that we are preparing, I repeat once again, I'm in favour of significant cuts in terms of central government bodies. I'm not a supporter of increasing VAT; increasing VAT is for the political right. Nevertheless, we have to take some decisions," he stressed. "We expect higher revenues for the state budget with an increase in taxes related to tobacco products. The second such product, which also has the approval of our coalition partners, will be all beverages with sugar and sweeteners," the prime minister added, explaining that this will concern beverages with added sugar, unlike pure fruit juices, for instance. "Here we can see a way to obtain some resources for the state budget. This isn't an issue that affects the social standard of the public because people always have an alternative," said Fico. Meanwhile, Kamenicky added that as of next year there will be a new tax on electronic cigarettes, nicotine sachets and other products containing nicotine. In 2025, this should generate €15 million for the budget, and then €126 million in 2026, along with an increase in taxation on conventional tobacco products. zel/df