By: Vida Kocjan
The National Assembly is discussing the proposal of amending state budget for 2022. Prime Minister Robert Golob also appeared before the MPs and announced that in order to ensure energy supply, Slovenia will nationalise one of the energy companies in the near future, within the next month. He did not reveal which one.
He said that the energy crisis also brings with it peculiarities at the European level that no one could have predicted. He mentioned the recent nationalisation of the largest German gas importer, Uniper.
The Slovenian government has therefore reserved 750 million euros in the B-balance of the budget, i.e., in the account of financial claims and investments, for the recapitalisation of the energy sector, if this is necessary.
Two billion deficit in the state treasury
With the amending budget proposal, this year’s state budget expenditures will increase by around 600 million euros to 14.6 billion euros, while revenues should flow into the budget by 12.5 billion euros or about one billion euros more than is planned now. The state treasury is expected to end the year with a deficit of slightly more than 2,000 million (two billion) euros. There will be a deficit of 1,700 million produced in the last four months.
Such a result at a deficit is very good for Golob. According to him, consumption and the deficit may even be lower at the end of the year. “But this amending budget already shows the outlines for 2023, when we will not be lucky enough to be able to plan the budget in such a balanced way,” noted the Prime Minister.
Golob thus predicted a very dark scenario for 2023, which has its roots already in 2022, during his leadership of the government. The Fiscal Council of the Republic of Slovenia also points out the irrationality and poor management of public finances by Robert Golob.