ANSA news

(ANSA) - LJUBLJANA - Slovenia's government has sent a draft budget law to the European Commission in Brussels, indicating the country's economic priorities for 2015. The government upgraded the estimates of the deficit in 2014 to 4.4% of GDP, an increase by 0.3% compared with previous expectations. In 2015, the government plans to tackle the deficit and the excessive macro-economic imbalances by means of strict austerity measures. Economy Minister Dusan Mramor said that the government will cut 754 million euros (2% of GDP) to meet the Maastricht parameters. 2015 has been set by the European Commission as the deadline for Slovenia to bring its budget deficit below 3% of GDP, after Ljubljana has breached in 2013 the target for the first time. Mramor's 'therapy' will mainly affect the public sector with a restrictive policy on the wages of civil servants, which should allow the government to save 1% of GDP. These austerity measures will also hit the welfare state, cutting around 0.60% of GDP and investment (0.53% of GDP). (ANSA).