Kamenicky: I'd Like to Cut Taxes But We Don't Have Much Room Given Consolidation

Bratislava, 4 May (TASR) - The governing coalition will first seek to agree on pro-growth measures that won't cost the state budget anything, and the coalition council is expected to discuss them next week, so they could be approved at the next parliamentary session at the end of May or beginning of June, Finance Minister Ladislav Kamenicky (Smer-SD), stated on Monday, adding that measures requiring funding will be linked to the drafting and approval of next year's budget. The finance minister didn't want to specify the measures in more detail before an agreement is reached within the coalition. At the same time, he pointed out that, given the need to consolidate public finances, the government doesn't have much leeway to adopt measures that could cost hundreds of millions of euros. "I want to cut taxes, but then don't yell at me to consolidate. It just doesn't work, especially against the wind and with a deficit like this. It's simply impossible to achieve," he stated at a press conference on Monday. Kamenicky pointed out that every 1 percentage point (p.p.) reduction in income tax costs the budget approximately €200 million, and in the case of value-added tax (VAT), the figure stands at €500 million. According to the minister, the situation is similar with the financial transaction tax, which is criticised by the opposition as well as by some elements in the coalition. "Do you know why I introduced it? Well, to reduce the deficit as part of the consolidation that we've been talking so much about here. That's not a mantra for me, but then someone has to say, where are we going to get half a billion from? That's the key question," stressed the minister. "I'm not glued to the transaction tax, and I don't consider it to be the best invention. If someone tells me where to get half a billion, there won't be a transaction tax," he added. am/df