KDH: Gov't Doesn't Have Budget under Control, Collected Much Less Than Planned

Bratislava, 8 January (TASR) - Despite the fact that the Finance Ministry is boasting that last year's state budget has turned out slightly better than planned, it doesn't have the state's finances under control, the opposition Christian Democrats (KDH) told a press conference on Thursday, adding that as a result, there's a need to adopt ever new consolidation packages, which puts burdens on ordinary people and entrepreneurs alike. Last week, the Finance Ministry reported that the state budget deficit for last year reached €6.109 billion. The approved 2025 budget anticipated a deficit of €6.279 billion, so Slovakia managed its finances better by €170 million. "It's all pure camouflage. Let me give you just one figure. Last year, the state collected €1.8 billion less in taxes than the state budget had anticipated. If it had collected these taxes as it should have, we wouldn't need the third consolidation package that we're now entering into," said MP Jozef Hajko (KDH). According to him, value-added tax (VAT) performed the worst last year, but the new financial transaction tax also failed to meet expectations. "As soon as the government came up with this tax proposal, we said that it was nonsense, that it would poison the business environment and that the state wouldn't be able to collect the money. Here is the proof: the state collected 40 percent less via this tax than it had expected," stressed Hajko. The MP also pointed out that the government is primarily trying to increase revenues via consolidation measures but doesn't know how to save on itself. "On the one hand, we would expect that this higher income would lead to better management of the state, but the opposite is true. The public finance deficit is actually growing. It is still above €6 billion, or above 5 percent of gross domestic product," emphasised the opposition MP. Hajko opined that KDH would have proceeded differently with consolidation, stressing that the government should first of all save on itself, while at the same time it should support investment and economic growth. It's also important to accelerate the drawing of EU funds significantly. KDH appealed for better collection of taxes instead of increasing them. am/df