SOPK: 2024 Standard Business Year, But Under Pall of Political Instability (2)

Bratislava, December 12 (TASR) - The business year of 2024 in Slovakia was a standard one, although it started to reflect domestic political instability within the governing coalition as well as rising tensions between the coalition and opposition, president of the Slovak Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SOPK) Peter Mihok announced at a press conference on Thursday. These factors, coupled with the approved consolidation measures and the 2025 state budget, herald uncertainty for the business sector in the next fiscal year. "The business year in Slovakia was more or less standard, although the first symptoms of incorrect decisions from the past already began to manifest themselves throughout the year: the increase in domestic political instability both within the ranks of the governing coalition as well as rising tensions between the current coalition and opposition. There has been a rising tide of calls for an early election on both sides of the political spectrum," stated Mihok. He added that these aspects in conjunction with negative influences from abroad pose a source of uncertainty for next year. "The situation on the labour market is worsening, investments in education end up on labour markets in the Czech Republic, Austria, Germany and other countries. That is partly the outcome of an absolute inability on the part of political representation to seek and find solutions together to forge a modern and competitive state, its economy and society as a whole," said Mihok. Furthermore, the economy and business sector felt the effects of a growing public deficit, which stood at 5.2 percent in 2023 and reached 5.9 percent this year, with Slovakia lagging behind in terms of competitiveness as well. SOPK considers the introduction of consolidation measures necessary, but points out that they were approved without any discussion. A major objection to the measures harboured by SOPK is that there have been no discernible austerity cuts in public administration. The business environment could improve in Mihok's view if red tape were cut, the quality of digitisation were improved at least to a level matching the EU average and excessive regulation of the sector were toned down. Other beneficial measures would be to align education with the needs of the labour market, to improve its quality and to slash the tax and levy burden. mf/df