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Slovak gov't to spend 1 bln euros on social packages: PM

Xinhua, August 4, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Slovak government is set to spend 1 billion euros (about 1.1 billion U.S. dollars) on three social packages, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said Tuesday.

"We delivered on the first package, which was worth 250 million euros and the deficit and debt are both falling," said Fico.

The social measures from the Slovak government will neither exacerbate Slovakia's debt, nor its deficit, Fico told a press conference on Tuesday.

"There's no need to fear the social packages, because they're primarily funded from higher levels of tax collected, by the fight against tax evasion, and obviously by an economy that is doing better, because both external and internal factors have kickstarted the economy as a whole," stressed Fico.

The government expects that improvements in the level of tax collected will yield an extra 1.6 billion euros between 2014-16, said Fico.

"We're making good on this plan, so I can say that the overall value of the first, second and third social packages will be 1 billion euros," said Fico.

The first and second social packages were realised in years 2014-2015. The third one is to be unveiled in December. (1 euro = 1.10 U.S. dollars) Endit