NEWS

Prime Minister in her answers to parliamentary questions: "Slovenia is on the right path."

At today's session of the National Assembly, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Alenka Bratušek, answered questions raised by the deputies. In her reply to the first question concerning the impact of the introduction of property tax on different social groups, which was raised by Franc Bogovič, Deputy from the Slovenia People's Party, Ms Bratušek said that the introduction of this tax, which is one of the most common and widely spread taxes in Europe, was just, as this is a tax on property and those owning more property will pay more taxes. With regard to the effects of the property tax on the economy, Ms Bratušek explained that in discussions with directors of several companies she had received assurances that the amounts their companies would pay under the new arrangement would be the same or even lower than the charge for the use of construction land. The average Slovenian family will also not be significantly affected. As regards farmers, she recalled that the Government had acceded to many of their requests during the discussions in the procedure for the adoption of the act.

 

In her answer to the question raised by Ljudmila Novak, Deputy from the New Slovenia, regarding the Government's measures for reducing youth unemployment and preventing brain drain, Ms Bratušek said that the youth was the priority of this Government and that in the next two years, the state would allocate approximately 160 million euros to youth programmes. In the next year, the Government will, among other things, increase the funds for active employment policy programmes by six percent. It has also managed to ensure EUR 9.2 million for youth initiative within European projects. Furthermore, the Government has adopted an act regulating intervention measures concerning employment market and parental protection. Ms Bratušek assessed that the Government was successful with regard to youth employment, as the data showed that despite the recession and lack of jobs, 13% more young people, i.e. people under 29 years of age, and 20% more first job seekers have found employment this year compared to the previous year.

 

The next question was raised by Andrej Šircelj, Deputy from the Slovenian Democratic Party, who wanted to know what measures did the Government take to bring Slovenia out of recession and what was the Government's policy on borrowing. In her answer, Ms Bratušek emphasised that we had many reasons for optimism, as the European Commission also considered the budget to be in compliance with the programme, and added: "For the first time Slovenia has found itself among the top five countries – in the company of the Netherlands and France with only Germany and Estonia above them." As regards the state's last borrowing, she stressed that it was in compliance with the borrowing programme. She said that she did wish Slovenia's borrowing to be less expensive, however, interest rates have dropped further and financial markets also confirmed that Slovenia is on the right path.

 

The last question was raised by Marjana Kotnik Poropat, Deputy from the Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia, and concerned the demographic reserve fund. Ms Bratušek answered that the Government was examining the possibilities of financing such a fund and the solutions adopted by other countries. She added: "Within the coalition, we will certainly find a solution that will satisfy everybody and will be sustainable in terms of public finance. However, I do agree that we have to be careful in our search for the solution and must not unduly burden individual groups, particularly youth."