FinMin: Kamenicky Holds Talks on Next Year's Budget with SNS Representatives

Bratislava, 3 September (TASR) - Finance Minister Ladislav Kamenicky (Smer-SD) on Thursday held talks with representatives of the junior coalition Slovak National Party (SNS) on preparations for next year's state budget, TASR learnt from Kamenicky's post on social media in which he described the talks as challenging yet constructive. "Today, I continued the marathon of talks on the 2027 state budget at the Finance Ministry - this time with SNS chairman Andrej Danko and SNS parliamentary caucus chair Roman Michelko. I would like to appreciate the substantive and constructive dialogue. The talks are challenging, but I can confirm that we're making progress," stated Kamenicky. The government must approve the draft state budget for next year and submit it to Parliament by 15 October. During the year, there had been speculation that this could happen earlier this year and that Parliament would be able to debate the budget at its September session. However, according to recent statements by governing coalition representatives, this is not realistic, and MPs are expected to approve the budget as usual at a parliamentary session around the turn of November and December. The Council for Budget Responsibility (RRZ) has repeatedly warned that, given the high level of public debt and the sanctions applicable under the debt brake rules, the government is required to submit a balanced budget. However, Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) has rejected this on several occasions, citing exemptions from the debt brake rules. jrg/mcs