STA, 20 October 2021 - The newspaper Finance suggests in Wednesday's editorial that Slovenia is ill prepared for the crisis that the world has entered into because the government has failed to deliver on its promise that it will lay the foundations for a good business environment.
The piece headlined Promises, Taxes and Electricity (Obljube, davki in elektrika) notes that Slovenia is to hold a general election in half a year and parties are making all kinds of promises, but the question is how realistic those are considering the looming global crisis.
"The world is in crisis. Like it was between 2008 and 2013. Slovenia is no exception. However, will we walk the crisis side by side with the eurozone or will we - like in the above-mentioned crisis - emerge from it worse off than most of Europe?"
"The government has namely failed to lay the foundations for a good business environment in the long term. We have not got either tax or anti-bureaucratic changes. Nothing. Why?"
"Because the government does not have support. It has distributed Covid bonuses without any oversight, given us a curfew, restricted our movement to the small Slovenian municipalities, flexed its muscles too often during protests (including Friday's) instead of promoting and organising vaccination better, while PM Janša still prefers to tweet and provoke scandals," writes the paper.
"It is thus no wonder it has not got sufficient support even for the laws that would benefit all. We are unlikely to get higher general tax credits and thus higher net pay to increase or at least maintain our standard, which would also make it easier for the economy to live, invest, grow, create jobs and pay taxes.
"It appears we will not even get slightly more stimulating taxes to rent real estate or invest in shares. The government has been unfit to get through parliament even the simplest amendments to the VAT that would eliminate the need for retailers to issue paper receipts except at the buyer's demand."
