Deficit under 2% in 2016 doable

The finance deficit in 2015 is likely to have fallen to 2.6% said the Finance Minister Peter Kažimír at a press conference on Thursday. In a prediction for 2016 he believes that the new government should be able to cut the public finance gap to under 2% of the GDP. The European Commission expects this year's deficit to reach 2.1%. However, the Slovak Minister objected that, "This is a conservative estimate of the European Commission". He emphasised that Slovakia has all it takes to reach even better numbers. The budget shortfall in 2017 should shrink to 1.7% unless any additional measures are adopted according to the Commission. The Finance Minister voiced his satisfaction with the forecast and sees it as a "report card" for the Government before the general election. Peter Kažimír views the figures of the prognosis as being from the decisions of foreign investors to make investments in Slovakia. As he added, it will have a positive effect on the standard of living in this country.