Kamenicky: Reaching Coalition Agreement Most Difficult Part of Consolidation

(JOJ 24,'Politika 24', 14 September) Speaking on JOJ 24's discussion programme 'Politika 24' (Politics 24) on Sunday, Finance Minister Ladislav Kamenicky (Smer-SD) stated that the measures aimed at consolidating public finances are the result of negotiations among all governing parties, and reaching agreement within the coalition was the most challenging part of their preparation. According to Kamenicky, discussions are still ongoing regarding holiday shopping bans and savings within the Health Ministry. „From my perspective, most of my energy was spent on reaching political agreements,” Kamenicky said. He added that the ruling coalition had to make compromises to overcome various disputes. „You can’t just say, ‘this is very good, this is the best, and I will push it through’ – it simply doesn’t work like that in politics,” the minister noted. Although Parliament is already debating the fiscal consolidation package proposed by the government, the issue of scrapping public holidays on selected festive days remains unresolved, the minister stated. As of Friday (12 September), talks on cost-cutting in certain ministries had also not yet concluded, with the biggest challenge being the Health Ministry. Kamenicky rejected criticism from the opposition, which pointed out the projected increase in net incomes of government members, the Prime Minister, and MPs during the consolidation period due to the automatic rise in flat-rate allowances linked to the average wage. „It is in the hands of Parliament to decide what to do with their salaries. I don’t have the right to determine what their pay will be,” he said. For other constitutional officials, the Finance Ministry is preparing a recalculation of flat-rate allowance increases, which will be presented to coalition partners. According to Kamenicky, the coalition council should address this issue. Talks on changes to the transaction tax, proposed by the Slovak National Party (SNS), also remain open. The minister dismissed claims that the tax will be devastating for businesses. He stated that several companies showed him their transaction tax burden amounted to only a few dozen euros. Nonetheless, the government plans to collect around €530 million per year from entrepreneurs via this tax. A proposal by SNS MPs to exempt sole traders and businesses with annual turnover below €100,000 from the tax reportedly ran into EU legislative barriers. The Finance Minister reiterated that fiscal consolidation was necessary due to the poor state of public finances left behind by previous governments as of autumn 2023. He also rejected claims that the state is not doing enough to cut its own costs. Of the total €2.7 billion in planned consolidation by 2026, €1.4 billion will come from increased taxes and levies on businesses, employees, and consumers, while the state aims to save €1.3 billion. This includes a reduction of €130 million in revenue-sharing tax transfers to municipalities. mf