KDH: Deteriorating Investor Confidence Proof of Poor Consolidation

Bratislava, 21 April (TASR) - The consolidation of public finances, which the incumbent government has been pursuing for several years, has a poor structure and is creating difficult "economic terrain" for both businesses and employees, as reflected in Slovakia's continuously growing debt and the deteriorating sentiment among foreign investors, representatives of the opposition Christian Democrats (KDH) told a press conference on Tuesday. KDH MP Rastislav Kratky pointed to a recent survey among members of the Slovak-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry that showed a significant fall in confidence in recent years. "There has never been such a deterioration in investor sentiment, as pessimism among investors has worsened by as much as 120 percent," stated Kratky. Regarding Slovakia's deficit and debt for 2025, which was published on Tuesday by the Statistics Office and evaluated by the Council for Budget Responsibility (RRZ), Kratky described the data as serious, showing that although the deficit improved year on year, this was only the case on paper. "Even though the deficit fell to 4.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), it was only thanks to postponed purchases of military equipment, an extraordinary dividend paid by power utility Slovenske elektrarne, and cuts in investments; for example in the railways," added Kratky. Instead of genuine consolidation, the government is merely buying time and putting off expenditures. In fact, the public debt continues to rise, reaching the highest level in Slovakia's history, while there's also a structural problem on the revenue side, he added. "A constant shortfall in taxes and levies, which has reached 0.8 percent of GDP, is the biggest issue for public finances. This isn't a one-off error but a systemic deterioration in the ability to collect taxes, i.e. so-called consolidation fatigue. In short, consolidation has a poor structure; it can't be called a genuine recovery of public finances but merely the introduction of new taxes and an increase in charges," stated Kratky. According to KDH chair Milan Majersky, the latest figures clearly show that Slovakia is on the Greek path. "Slovakia needs responsible and competent managers capable of running the country. We can see that this governing coalition just doesn't have this ability and has been failing to deliver even after 2.5 years, which is really bad for ordinary people. These figures clearly show that the government has failed to deliver economic solutions for this country," he added. In its response to the latest data confirmed by the Statistics Office on Tuesday, the Finance Ministry stated that Slovakia managed its finances significantly better last year than originally projected in the approved state budget, and while the planned deficit stood at 4.72 percent of GDP, 2025 ultimately ended with a shortfall of 4.45 percent of GDP. The improvement was primarily due to the government's approach and effective management of public finances, claimed the ministry. jrg/df