Slovakia's central government budget deficit dropped to 1.93 billion euros ($2.10 billion) in 2015, less than the 2.98 billion euros planned by the government, Finance Minister Peter Kazimir said on Saturday. Slovakia has been one of the euro zone's better budget performers, and Kazimir said he had believed last year's overall fiscal gap was below the EU-prescribed maximum of 3 percent of gross domestic product.
The ministry has forecast the overall fiscal deficit, which includes regional budgets and the health insurance system, at 2.74 percent of GDP in 2015. The final result should be known in April, Kazimir said. Parliament has approved a 2016 budget with a deficit of 1.93 percent and the ministry aims to balance the budget by 2018.
The leftist government is taking advantage of a growing economy that is boosting tax revenue to cut the deficit in line with euro zone rules, while cementing its popularity with measures to help poorer Slovaks ahead of a March 5 election. Kazimir said the central European country's public debt fell to 52.2 percent of GDP in 2015, down 1.3 percentage points from 2014, when it posted a 2.92 billion-euro central budget deficit. The EU ceiling for debt is 60 percent of GDP.
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