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06 May 2013

Slovenia Times: No deal on fiscal rule


A meeting of party leaders aimed at finding common ground on amendments to the Constitution that are seen as key to putting Slovenia's public finances back on track ended without a deal, as the coalition and opposition remained divided on when the fiscal rule should take effect.

At issue is whether the fiscal rule, which would require budgets to be balanced or in surplus in good years while setting a debt ceiling in a downturn, can be implemented in 2015 as originally planned. The government has said that the enacting it in 2015 would require unacceptable spending cuts to the tune of €800 million next year and has therefore sought to postpone its implementation to 2017.

"Amending the Constitution with something that we will not honour is totally unrealistic", Prime Minister Alenka Bratušek said after the meeting. "As prime minister, I will not advocate taking 30 per cent away from pensioners, doctors and teachers while leaving those who are already on the margins without anything."

The government wants to reschedule it in order to present the Stability Programme, a set of measures that the government must sent to Brussels next week. Based on these specific measures, it would then be decided when is the best time to implement the fiscal rule, according to Bratušek. Implementing the fiscal rule in a year-and-a-half is "unrealistic" unless "someone has the interest to turn this country into something else than a welfare state", she said. Changes to the Constitution require a two-thirds majority in parliament and given the refusal of the coalition Social Democrats (SD) to endorse it, Bratušek needs SDS votes.

Full article



© Slovenia Times


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