Premier: Consolidation Remains Special Priority for Current Government

Bratislava, May 15 (TASR) - Consolidation remains a top priority of the current government, stated Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) at a gathering of delegates of the Slovak Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SOPK) on Thursday. "One of my priorities is to hand over public finances in a normal state. I'm not talking about a perfect state, I'm talking about a normal one. Therefore, let me include the priority of a further recovery in public finances in the priorities that the SOPK president spoke about," stressed the premier. "Don't ask me, as a leftist politician, to shift the burden of consolidation only towards the public via increasing value-added tax (VAT), perhaps via increasing excise duties or property taxes. We were looking for a certain balance, and that balance, unfortunately, on your side is represented by the [financial transaction] tax that is a subject of great criticism and great debate today," he said. According to him, the government is ready to discuss the transaction tax further, to look for technical solutions if it causes difficulties somewhere. "However, at the moment we don't have an alternative that would offer us €700 million. This is the output we expect from implementing the transaction tax," he emphasised. Consolidation will continue this year, therefore. "We have a number of measures on the table that will be communicated to the public in due course," stated Fico. "Consolidation is extremely burdensome for us because instead of looking for resources to develop this country, we're thinking about where to cut and what to take. There are ministries in which mandatory spending is as high as 95 percent. We're bringing the deficit down, we're keeping the public debt at a sustainable level and, above all, we want this consolidation to be balanced again and to affect all spheres of social life," added the premier. am/df