At a press conference today, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Mr Janez Janša, explained certain measures recently adopted by the Slovenian Government to mitigate the adverse impact of inflation and on which the Slovenian Parliament is to decide in the near future. The Prime Minister also outlined the response to his presentation of the Slovenian EU Council Presidency Programme at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday.
(Photo: Stanko Gruden/STA)
PM Janez Janša said the measures to mitigate inflation will entail a substantial loss of budgetary revenue while certain forms of expenditure will be increased. According to Government calculations, the revenue loss this year through increasing general income tax relief under the Personal Income Tax Act will exceed EUR 30 million. The increase in child benefit entails additional expenditure of more than EUR 30 million. The Prime Minister explained that, for these reasons, the Government would be proposing a supplementary budget, additionally limiting certain expenditure items for this year.
The Prime Minister said that he had today instructed government ministers to prepare proposals for reducing government expenditure. “At least half of the amount which needs to be saved in addition on account of these measures will be covered by sums previously allocated for Ministry of Defence expenditure,” he pointed out, mentioning, moreover, that the Government is considering additional measures to further lighten the burden on family budgets. One of the measures possible is an additional reduction in the radio and television subscription fee, which is an item of regular monthly expenditure for Slovenian households, or an exemption from the payment of subscription fees for people on minimum income.
At today's press conference, Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia Janez Janša expressed satisfaction at the favourable reception which the European Parliament had given Slovenia’s programme for its Presidency of the Council of the European Union. He noted that the Slovenian EU Council Presidency Programme had received strong support and that Slovenia had been complimented on its successful development. “There were some very touching moments when MEPs from other Member States were quoting the Slovene national anthem, Zdravljica – the Toast, or citing good products made by Slovenian companies,” said the Prime Minister. PM Janša also underlined that the leaders of the most important political groups and the President of the European Parliament, Mr Hans-Gert Pöttering, had promised their support for Slovenia during its Presidency.
