Slovakia needs a new vision of the sustainable economic development of the country. It needs a fundamental reform of the functioning of state and public institutions, a re -evaluation of key public policies, their strategic management and a significant consolidation of public finances. Supreme Audit Office (SAO) SR He pointed out this in the annual report for 2024, which he submitted to the National Council of the Slovak Republic. On Friday, the SAO spokeswoman Daniela Bolech Dobáková informed about it.
The chairman of the SAO Ľubomír Andrassy stressed that in the controlled subjects the Office recorded partial efforts to improve, but he continues to prevail by resortism, interdepartmental cooperation and cooperation on common goals. “According to the results of inspections in health care, environment, self -government, education or in the field of informatisation and digitization, this is the most prominent,” stressed.
The SAO repeatedly drew attention to the increasing debt of public administration and the related increasing costs of its financing. According to the SAO, Slovakia had one of the highest cost of financing debt in the euro area last year. “The risk survey of Slovak bonds compared to German bonds is one of the highest in the euro area, which negatively affects the cost of debt financing,” He said Andrassy.
Added that Public administration debt can reach 59 % of the gross domestic product this year, which is almost EUR 77 billion. ÚThe Council pointed out that Slovakia is the only EU country in the high risk band in the long -term sustainability of public finances. The reason is the significant aging of the population, the generous pension system and low economic growth. The SAO evaluated positively that the government is engaged in the recovery of public finances, but the consolidation measures adopted so far are not sufficient.
The SAO also pointed out the inability of Slovakia to draw funds from European sources. “The financial assistance of the European Community is a unique opportunity to start reforms and speed up social progress. He stressed Andrassy. Last year, the SAO also focused on the fulfillment of public policies, and also dealt with water and long water companies.
The report on the results of the 2024 control activities contains the results of 36 control shares carried out in 192 subjects from various areas of state administration and self -government, including two opinions on state budget. Based on the check -up findings, the SAO gave almost 270 recommendations and the responsible entities subsequently adopted 580 measures. In ten cases, a criminal complaint was filed on the basis of findings. At the third of the inspections, chaos and fragmentation recorded strategic investment planning last year.
