Rasi: Budget Will Be Approved When Coalition Reaches Agreement on It

Bratislava, 15 June (TASR) - Next year's state budget will be approved when all three coalition parties reach an agreement on it, Parliamentary Chair and Voice-SD vice-chair Richard Rasi stated on Monday in response to speculation that the budget could be approved as early as in September. The draft budget is usually approved by Parliament in late November or early December. Rasi emphasised that the state budget is the law of the year and that Voice-SD wants it to be approved, as it is crucial for the functioning of the entire country. "But it should be adopted when all the coalition partners are equally satisfied or equally dissatisfied, because the opposition will be against it," he noted. The House chair pointed out that this will be the last budget of the current electoral term, and once it is approved, the pre-election battle is likely to begin within both the coalition and the opposition. Rasi said that he views the possibility of reaching an agreement on the budget positively. "I believe that during the Finance Ministry's discussions with individual ministries, the communication will be such that there will be no possibility that we wouldn't support it," he said. The parliamentary chair stated that Voice-SD's 'red lines' include, for example, 13th pensions, not re-opening the private second pension pillar, raising police officers' salaries, and sufficient funding for health care and education. am/df