Viskupic Calls for Local Governments to Be Exempt from Debt Brake

Trnava/Bratislava, 23 October (TASR) – According to Jozef Viskupic, the chair of the Association of Self-Governing Regions of Slovakia (SK8) and governor of Trnava region, local governments should be exempt from the application of debt-brake rules, with Viskupic proposing that they should be governed solely by the provisions of the Act on Budgetary Rules of Local Self-Government. Because of this, he called for an amendment to the constitutional Act on Budgetary Responsibility. Viskupic stated that the debt brake affects local governments much more extensively than it does the state itself. "However, local governments didn't cause the total amount of public debt; they account for just over 1 percent of it. Therefore, its parameters should be designed completely differently, and local governments should be given different treatment, exclusively according to the Act on Budgetary Rules of Local Self-Government, which is strict," he told TASR. He declared that the SK8 association has asked House chair Richard Rasi (Voice–SD), to initiate an amendment to the Constitutional Act on Budgetary Responsibility. "As this is a constitutional construct, a constitutional majority [of 90 votes-ed.note] will be required. I'll therefore seek support not only among the coalition but also the opposition. Local government is suffering greatly under the current conditions, and this affects every single budget," emphasised Viskupic. He also spoke about the differing interpretations of the debt-brake parameters by the Finance Ministry and the Council for Budget Responsibility. According to him, local governments are "artificially inflating" next year's budgets during their drafting out of caution to avoid having to make budgetary changes during 2026. "It is currently uncertain whether implementing budgetary changes next year will put local governments in conflict with constitutional law," he added. mf/df