UPDATE OF SLOVAK FISCAL TRANSPARENCY NARRATIVE

UNCLAS BRATISLAVA 000113 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID ECON PREL LO SUBJECT: UPDATE OF SLOVAK FISCAL TRANSPARENCY NARRATIVE REF: State 16737 ¶1. Per reftel request, the following is the updated country narrative regarding fiscal transparency in Slovakia. ¶2. SLOVAKIA Slovakia has made significant progress in strengthening its management of public finances over the past few years. The government of Slovakia makes its state budget public via written publications and through the internet on the web sites of the Ministry of Finance, Parliament and the Government Office. This annual budget law and the accompanying annexes, which include detailed information on all revenues and expenditures, are widely viewed as true and accurate. The budget is presented in both ESA95 (which is a standard in the European Union) and on an accrual cash basis. At the same time, the IMF regularly receives data in its 2001 Government Finance Statistics (GFS) format. Program and multi-annual budgeting were adopted several years ago, the fulfillment of the program goals is monitored, and the first year in the three year budget is binding. The fiscal mid-term framework is updated annually and submitted for approval to the European Commission. According to IMF's 2005 report on the Observance of Standards and Codes - Fiscal Transparency Module, Slovakia has addressed almost all of the recommendations from the 2003 update. The remaining recommendations from the 2003 update relate to audit requirements for public enterprises: specifically, to expand the mandate of the Supreme Audit Office to audit all enterprises in which the government holds equity, not just those with a state interest of 34 percent or more; and to require audits of commercial public enterprises by the private sector in addition to the Supreme Audit Office. OBSITNIK