- Slovakia is among the states with weaker competitiveness in the European Union.
- The prime minister argues the growth of the economy, low unemployment and the return of residents from abroad.
- Prime Minister Robert Fico emphasizes that the priority of his government is ordinary working people.
Not everything is perfect in the Slovak economy. At the same time, however, life in Slovakia is not bad and it is not even a “black hole”, as critics of the current government tend to claim. This was announced by Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) after Wednesday’s government meeting.
He was reacting to the Report on Productivity and Competitiveness of Slovakia, which the cabinet took note of on Wednesday. In it, the Institute for Strategies and Analyzes (ISA) at the Office of the Government of the Slovak Republic elaborated ten key obstacles to increasing competitiveness and productivity. According to the report, Slovakia is among the states with weaker competitiveness within the EU. In 2024, it was ranked 23rd out of 27 EU member states in the ISA ranking, having improved by one rank compared to 2022.
“Not everything is perfect. But I can’t keep accepting the news that entrepreneurs are unhappy. However, perhaps it is important that people are satisfied, now it is not just businessmen. Entrepreneurs are terribly important, but I am the representative of the social democratic government, I am the left-wing prime minister, and I think that above all we have to look at those people who make a living from their own work. I perceive these characteristics, we are dealing with it, we are also thinking about the transaction tax,” stated Fico.
In this context, he listed several areas in which the country is doing well. He mentioned, for example, the statistic that more people return to Slovakia than leave it, or record low unemployment. The Slovak economy should continue to grow despite the problems of foreign business partners, Slovak tourism is also growing, the prime minister underlined. Several new investments are also expected.
“I’m quite an optimist, I’m not one of those who would claim that Slovakia is a black hole and I’m absolutely convinced of that, that life in Slovakia is not as bad as the opposition says and as the media in Slovakia spread it“, added Fico.
According to the opposition SaS, the Report on Productivity and Competitiveness of Slovakia is the government’s own certificate, which confirms what the opposition has been pointing out for months – Slovakia is lagging behind, the standard of living is falling and the government is unable to take measures to boost the economy.
“Today, we once again expected the government to finally present specific pro-growth measures. Instead, it approves a material in which it admits that Slovaks have the lowest net wages among the V4 countries. In this report, Economy Minister Denisa Saková also states that Slovakia has an extremely high tax and levy burden on labor and that labor costs in our country have increased dramatically in recent years. In other words, the government today approves of the consequences of its own governance,” declared the chairman of the Liberals, Branislav Gröhling.
According to SaS, the biggest problem is that the cabinet already knows the diagnosis, but still refuses to start treatment. “The government itself admitted today that Slovakia is lagging behind. Now she still has to find the courage to admit that she herself is responsible for this state of affairs. And then finally start taking measures that will really help people and the economy,” appealed the vice-chairman of the party, Marián Viskupič.
