SaS Submits Its Proposals for Consolidation Measures before House Session

Bratislava, September 8 (TASR) – The current government has shifted the entire burden for the recovery of public finances onto ordinary people, while its nominees are well off, opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party representatives stated on Monday, adding that the government should, first of all, cut its own spending and support the economy, rather than dampening it. The party is proposing several appropriate measures for the parliamentary session that it thinks could also be supported by the governing coalition. For instance, the maximum price for purchasing state-owned cars for high-ranking officials should be set by law. "For the president, the maximum price of a limousine would be €90,000, for prime minister no more than €60,000, for members of government €48,000 and for other posts between €22,000-€40,000, depending on seniority," said SaS Vice-chair and MP Marian Viskupic, adding that the ceilings for green vehicles could be increased by 30 percent. Another measure proposed by SaS is to abolish 23 district offices of the so-called 'third-type' with limited powers, which have proven to be ineffective and costly. Their functions could be performed by detached workplaces of standard district offices, thus reducing the costs by €10 million annually without making services less available. According to Viskupic, abolishing the transaction tax in its entirety and re-introducing a flat 19-percent rate for income tax could also help Slovakia's economy. "This is also a consolidation measure, because it will simply allow more activity and competition in our economy in order to make it function. Without this, there will be no consolidation," stressed Viskupic. jrg/df