NEWS

Prime Minister Janez Janša: The measures proposed by the Government are mild in comparison with other European countries

As a guest on POP TV's TV Klub yesterday, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Janez Janša, spoke about the savings measures aimed at balancing the public finances proposed by the Government to the social partners as the basis for the preparation of the 2012 revised budget.

 

The Prime Minister stressed that the measures proposed by the Government were adopted by almost every European country either three years ago or in the last two years. In his view, the Government’s package of measures will not result in any drastic cuts; in view of the situation Slovenia currently faces, these measures are rather mild in comparison to those faced by other European countries.  In his view, the savings measures must be adopted now or, in a year from now, we will have to adopt emergency measures which will not be mild at all. The Prime Minister also pointed out that the Government measures aimed at balancing the public finances served as standpoints for negotiations with the social partners and that, through social dialogue, the Government will attempt to find some reserves to alleviate the burden of these measures in truly sensitive areas.

 

The Prime Minister also made assurances that the Government would first impose cuts on itself and not on the most vulnerable social groups; among other things, he drew attention to the salaries of officials.  He said that "under no circumstances would the reduction of salaries be more favourable for officials than for the rest of the public sector". As regards a 15% cut in public sector salaries, the Prime Minister pointed out that, prior to a linear reduction, pay system discrepancies would first be eliminated. He also believed that the healthcare measures proposed will not significantly affect the quality of services and working conditions provided since the healthcare system still has sufficient reserves. In the area of education, standards will revert to those of ten years ago, "when the Slovenian school system was no worse than it is now".

 

During the conversation, the Prime Minister also touched upon the golden fiscal rule, whose primary purpose is to impose limitations on us and to prevent the political sphere from bringing the state into the situation it finds itself today. "The adoption of the golden fiscal rule will immediately result in a reduction in the cost of borrowing owed by the state," he added.

 

Last but not least, the Prime Minister drew attention to the financial situation, which is becoming increasingly difficult, and urged for the measures to be adopted. "The balanced budget law and the revised budget must be adopted by the Government and a majority of the National Assembly within an extremely short period of time; failing this, the Government will not even need to resign since it will not have anything to do," the Prime Minister said, and stressed that we now function on a budget which is based on 2.5 per cent economic growth, a figure we do not currently achieve. He believes that the situation is extremely grave. He made assurances that a number of the Government's measures proposed have met with much understanding and clear support by the coalition partners.