The state budget deficit for this year is projected to rise to €8.5 billion, or 8.8 percent of GDP, an increase of 1.4 percentage points from the figure included in the originally approved budget. This according to a 2021 report on revised estimates submitted to the Government by the Finance Ministry. The main reason behind the hike is the economic hit stemming from Covid-19 related measures imposed in Slovakia, in particular during the country's second wave.
"Higher anti-pandemic expenditures, but also increases in other expenditures, have partially offset the positive developments seen in tax-levy incomes," stated the ministry in the report.
Romana Grajcarová, Photo: TASR
