On Wednesday 17 January, the European Commission took the view that the Slovak government’s revised draft budget for 2024 may not comply with the recommendation that the Council of the European Union issued to Slovakia in July 2023.
According to the Commission, the increase in net primary public spending will be higher than recommended (6.7% instead of 5.7%), representing an excessive increase in public spending equivalent to 0.4% of Slovakia’s GDP.
A number of factors explain the slippage: the continuation until 2024 of certain emergency energy measures (capping gas and electricity prices for households and certain SMEs), family allowances for parents whose children are not admitted to nursery school, and so on. Reducing the number of civil servants, freezing civil service salaries, increasing indirect taxation on energy and creating a one-off tax on banks will not offset the rise in spending.
According to the Slovak draft budget plan, the public deficit will be reduced from 6.5% to 6.0% of national GDP between 2023 and 2024, compared with the Commission’s forecast of a deficit of 6.3%, and public debt will rise from 56.8% to 58.3% of GDP.
The EU institution is therefore asking the Slovak authorities to take the appropriate measures to comply with the Council’s recommendation.
To see the Commission’s opinion, go to https://aeur.eu/f/afh (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)