NEWS
Prime Minister Alenka Bratušek attends the Crafts and Entrepreneurship Forum: "We have to carry out the measures for our own sake, not because of Brussels"
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Alenka Bratušek, today attended the Crafts and Entrepreneurship Forum. Addressing the audience, she emphasised that she was well aware of a difficult path that lies ahead and that the Government would particularly welcome realistic views of the world, good ideas and proposals from all stakeholders. The Prime Minister briefly presented the national reform programme and the stability pact, which had already been sent to Brussels, and said: "All proposed measures must be carried out for our own sake, not because of Brussels. Although there is much talk about the Europe's requirements, we should keep in mind that these measures will be implemented with a view to making our country better for us, not because of Europe." Prime Minister Bratušek added that the submission of the said documents to Brussels did not imply that the preparations for the reform programme were concluded, but were to continue in the future.
Both documents set out the consolidation of public finances and the kick-start of economic growth as key priorities. "The two measures are interdependent, which means that it is not possible to implement just one since a stable banking system is a prerequisite for servicing the needs of the economy. Accordingly, the basic premise is that the proposed measures be actually delivered, which will also restore our credibility. In this context, I believe that all procedures will be carried out quickly and in a transparent way. Even with regard to the proposed privatisation of enterprises, our goal remains to find strategic partners offering a reasonable price rather than selling off the enterprises," the Prime Minister pointed out, saying that the 'bad bank' project would allow to offload bad loans to the new address within one month. Prime Minister Bratušek explained the decision about the VAT increase: "There have been many considerations and consultations on the package that would be least painful for Slovenia at the moment. We knew precisely what we were doing when taking such a decision." Regarding the crisis tax, she explained that it was temporarily on hold and believed in reaching a compromise with all stakeholders; in her opinion, its adoption would therefore not be necessary.
"What we are doing now is a short-term arrangement and a kind of fire-fighting action," Prime Minister Bratušek concluded, inviting all participating representatives of the Slovenian craft and entrepreneurship to cooperate in the preparations of long-term measures aimed at boosting Slovenia's economic growth. She pointed to the recent government plans to introduce, through SID bank, a financial instrument which would enable small and medium-sized enterprises to take out loans for penetrating foreign markets.