INESS: State costs the public around Sk125,000 annually (The Slovak Spectator)

Operating the country costs the public Sk342 per
day, which amounts to around Sk125,000 annually, according to the INESS
Economic Institute.

The institute concluded that public administration expenditures went up
again by 11.8 percent this year, which is significantly more than the
anticipated inflation for this year, the SITA newswire wrote.

The institute interprets this development as an expansion of the public
sphere to the detriment of private entities. INESS assumes that high growth of
revenues from tax and compulsory payments into insurance funds, which could
reach 11.6 percent, creates room for cutting the share of the public finance
deficit, even despite higher public expenditures.

INESS stresses that this growth will not last forever. Moreover, if economic
growth weakens, too, there will be no funds for further increases in public
expenditures, which is why the institute recommends that the government cut
expenditures, taking into consideration growing deficits of the first state-run
pension pillar, as well. The institute also evaluated the state budget for this
year. INESS points to some disproportions, for example direct payments to
farmers are higher support for people in material need.

Moreover, the state spends more money on rural development than on
universities. The institute also elaborated a project entitled "The
State's Wasting of Money," which points to ineffective use of public
funds. INESS pointed out that over the last six months, the state used around
Sk9.6 billion ineffectively, according to information published in media. SITA

The
Slovak Spectator, 6 May 2008