Slovakia parlt approves amendment to 2021 state budget

Parliament on Friday approved an amendment to the 2021 state budget law, with 79 of the 127 MPs present voting for the bill. Parliament dealt with the bill via a fast-tracked procedure. In line with the motion, the expenditures side of the budget will be hiked by 3.74 billion euros and thus reach 27.6 billion euros. Originally, expenditures would only have been increased by less than 3.4 billion euros. In the same proportion the planned budget deficit will increase from less than 8.1 billion euros to as much as 11.8 billion. The so-called Covid-19 reserve will be enlarged by an additional 294.9 million euros, i.e. by 2.7 billion in total. Individual items in this category have been adjusted as well.