Analyst: Slovakia's Public Debt Won't Fall Back below 60% of GDP before 2032

Bratislava, April 22 (TASR) - Slovakia's public debt ended last year just below 60 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), but at the beginning of this year it was already rising above this threshold, and it won't fall back below it again for at least seven years, VUB bank analyst Michal Lehuta has estimated based on the current and expected developments in public finances. Lehuta pointed out that last year's public finance deficit of 5.3 percent of GDP was the fourth largest in the European Union after Romania's (-9.3 percent), Poland's (-6.6 percent) and France's (-5.8 percent), according to Eurostat's latest information. Six countries recorded a surplus. Slovakia's public debt stood at 59.3 percent of GDP at the end of last year. "However, in the first quarter of this year, by borrowing heavily, including from ordinary people, it rose back above 60 percent of GDP in March and, factoring in the April auction by the Debt and Liquidity Management Agency (ARDAL), to 63 percent of GDP," stated Lehuta. According to the VUB forecast for the next few years, which foresees a gradual consolidation towards a balanced economy in 2033, the Slovak public debt may return to below 60 percent of GDP in seven years at the earliest, i.e. in 2032. "Until then, further public deficits will first increase the debt, and only when it falls below 2.5 percent of GDP (perhaps in 2029) will the public debt start to gradually decrease in proportion to the growing performance of the economy," said the analyst. am/df