SaS: Coalition to Spend on its Priorities, People to Pay the Bill (2)

Bratislava, 21 September (TASR) - The governing coalition might initially argue over the next year's budget but will eventually reach an agreement, spend heavily on each party's priorities and leave people in Slovakia to pay the bill, opposition's SaS leader Branislav Groehling declared on Monday. The liberal party was responding to a session of the coalition council, which revolved around the draft budget. SaS called on the government to start cutting its own spending instead of further raising taxes and increasing expenditure. "First they will argue, then each of them will lobby for their ministries, purchases, nominees and priorities. In the end, they will add it all up and once again send one big bill to citizens. People have been paying for this government for three years, and the result is higher taxes, higher contributions and an economy that's not growing," added Groehling. He claimed that the solution rested on three basic principles: "The state must save money, the economy must grow and people must have more money left in their wallets. The state should save, not families. Fico, Estok, Danko and Kamenicky should have this carved into the walls of their offices." SaS is calling for a leaner state, the abolition of unnecessary offices and spending, the scrapping of the transaction tax and a more stable business environment. He also called on the government to fulfil its obligation under Slovakia's debt brake and submit a balanced budget. "If the ruling coalition really thinks it can circumvent the constitutional law and does not submit a balanced budget to Parliament, we're saying in advance that we'll take it to the Constitutional Court," Groehling added. He said he believed other opposition parties would join the legal challenge. SaS vice-chair Marian Viskupic warned that public finances remained in a serious state despite three consolidation packages. He noted that, according to the Council for Budget Responsibility (RRZ), the deficit would exceed 5 percent of gross domestic product in 2027 without new measures, while public debt is set to continue to rise. The opposition party therefore wants the government, when drawing up the 2027 budget, to stop looking for more money in the pockets of citizens and businesses and start making savings instead. "Administration needs to be reduced, unnecessary structures, offices and ministries abolished, and the creation of new permanent spending without funding must be stopped. Every new permanent expenditure must be covered by abolishing another expenditure. Slovakia does not need a fourth Kamenicky consolidation package. It needs a budget that finally consolidates the state, not the people," Viskupic said. Opposition's Progressive Slovakia (PS) also joined the criticism of the budget preparations. In MP Stefan Kiss's view, it's unlikely for the coalition council to arrive at any final wording. "We don't have a budget at all, nor do we have any of its parameters. We hear a lot of noise and talk about all sorts of things, but so far we have neither heard nor seen any measures by this government to reduce debt or any growth measures. We know nothing about what the budget is supposed to look like. We do not even know what will happen with the transaction tax, which is said to be scrapped one week and not scrapped the next," Kiss said. He also pointed out that the government was obliged to submit a balanced budget proposal. Parliament does not have to approve it, but it must at least debate it. If the government fails to fulfil this obligation, PS is prepared to turn to the Constitutional Court, either on its own or together with other opposition parties. According to Kiss, however, the governments of Robert Fico (Smer-SD) have made it impossible for Slovakia to have a genuinely balanced budget at present. "His governments have brought us to a situation where they are afraid to show the public what such a balanced budget would look like, because it would be very frightening. It's not a reasonable alternative under any scenario given the current situation," the opposition MP said. NOTE: This story has been extended to include the last five paragraphs mf/mcs