Monitor: Fico: Transaction Tax Could Be Replaced by Blanket Cuts in Spending

(STVR, 'Sobotne dialogy', 29 August) One option for covering the shortfall in state budget revenues after scrapping the transaction tax could be across-the-board cuts of around one percent, said Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) on STVR's politics programme 'Sobotne dialogy' (Saturday Dialogues), adding that this would apply to all state and public administration institutions. He doesn't view cuts in government spending as a problem, but he ruled out next year's fiscal consolidation at the expense of people. "The finance minister is preparing further measures that could perhaps replace these across-the-board cuts, but the finance minister knows he has to deliver the figures, so it's up to him," said Fico. He once again rejected the idea of a balanced state budget that the government is supposed to adopt under the Fiscal Responsibility Act, pointing to an escape clause which says that the government doesn't have to submit such a budget if payments to international institutions exceed a certain threshold. However, the Council for Budget Responsibility has questioned this interpretation in the past. According to Fico, a balanced budget is 'a chimera' and achieving it would require €8 billion in cuts. He added that there are other ways of avoiding the sanctions, with one of them being that Parliament doesn't have to approve a balanced budget submitted to it by the government. In theory, coalition MPs could therefore amend the proposed balanced budget as the government sees fit. Fico went on to say that the state budget will be approved on schedule around the turn of November and December and it should include funding for energy assistance, as well as resources needed for completing the construction of hospitals. According to him, the government is set to address the problems associated with drought before the beginning of the Agrokomplex agricultural and food fair on Wednesday (2 September). Agriculture Minister Richard Takac (Smer-SD) is expected to present five documents addressing the issue, with one of them concerning the payment of advances to Local Action Groups. Fico also touched upon Slovakia's long-term development, calling on the opposition to join the work on the Slovakia 2040 vision and strategy documents which should serve as the basis for government programmes regardless of who is in government in the future. The second area where the opposition should cooperate is, according to him, the preparation of the EU budget for 2028–2034. Ahead of the 2027 parliamentary elections, the prime minister said that the governing and opposition parties should agree on Slovakia's priorities in this area. jrg