Simecka: Govt Should Present Balanced Budget But It Doesn't Mean It'll Be Okayed

(TA3,'V politike', 6 September) Speaking on TA3's discussion programme 'V politike' (In Politics) on Sunday, leader of the opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) party Michal Simecka said that under the Constitutional Act on Fiscal Responsibility, the government is required to submit a draft balanced budget for 2027 to Parliament. According to Simecka, the submission of a balanced budget to the House doesn't mean that it will be approved as such. He pointed out that when caretaker premier Ludovit Odor presented a balanced budget in 2023 for similar reasons, "everyone pounced on him then and have been using it against him ever since". The PS leader doesn't believe the government will want to make savings in the 2027 budget, as it is an election year and everyone needs to push through their own priorities. "I even suspect the finance minister [Ladislav Kamenicky] and the premier [Robert Fico (both Smer-SD)] of deliberately wanting to burden the next government with such a high deficit and increase in debt, so that the next government will have an even harder time of it from 2027 onwards," remarked Simecka. Chair of the junior coalition Slovak National Party (SNS) Andrej Danko, who was also on the show, stated that it's important to draw up the state budget and amend measures that have proved to be flawed. "The debate on the transaction tax - and what to do about retail chains, banks and gambling - is very important to me. We also need to keep a close eye on the ministries' expenditure," he noted. In his view, the premier is making a mistake and risks the Constitutional Court issuing a preliminary injunction following the approval of an unbalanced budget. "He should first submit a balanced budget to Parliament, which should then be amended through MPs' motions," said the SNS chairman. According to him, discussions should focus on the actual form of the budget. If the draft balanced budget weren't approved, he should present a deficit budget. "I think this involves a significant political risk, but it's a decision for the premier and the finance minister," noted Danko. am