2015 state budget signed by Slovak president

Completing the legislative process, President Andrej Kiska on Tuesday signed the 2015-17 state budget legislation. The budget proposal was approved by Parliament on December 4, with 81 Smer-SD lawmakers voting in favour, while 53 lawmakers were against and eight Opposition MPs abstained. According to the law, the public finance deficit is envisaged to reach 2.29 percent of GDP next year, going down from the 2.9 percent of GDP projected for 2014. The public debt is expected to remain below the threshold of 55 percent of GDP. In addition, the Government set a reserve of 0.2 percent of GDP in case of a need for adjustments due to risks associated with macroeconomic developments. It referred to the ongoing geopolitical conflict that is having an impact on economies that are Slovakia's key business partners. Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry, which tabled the proposal, had to find extra resources for various new measures that are set to come into effect as of next year - including the introduction of a deductible item on levies to health insurers for low-income employees and planned increases in the salaries of teachers and public and state administration employees. The Government also allocated money for expanding the capacities of pre-school facilities, as well as for the introduction of an option to draw both subsistence benefit and a salary at the same time. As previously observed by Finance Minister Peter Kažimír, the introduction of the deductible item on health levies represents the largest amount, reaching €150 million. Furthermore, Parliament okayed a number of amending proposals to the budget that sought to top up the budgets in a number of areas, including the President's Office and the Education, Economy, Labour and Health Ministries. This translated into increases in the deficit from the initially projected 1.98 percent of GDP to the current 2.29 percent. The Government is also counting on a reserve with respect to tax collection. "We've created sufficient reserves of €300 million for better incomes, mainly as concerns the income tax imposed on individuals and legal entities, consumer taxes and VAT", stated Kažimír.