, on the horizon of years 2008 - 2010. 3. internal stability a ) reforms all necessary economic reforms were / are to be introduced before fulfilling maastricht criteria that the least possible disturbing factors may appear once given up own monetary tools. pension reform is under the process of final discussion in the parliament, new labor act has been introduced recently, major tax reform is to be introduced soon and health care reform and public administration reform is underway as well. another major reform, tax reform, aims to make the tax system more transparent and simple. this unique and radical reform based on fiscal neutrality introduces unified flat tax rate of 19 % for vat and rise of other indirect taxes on the one hand and introduces the same, decreased, direct tax rate of 19 % for individual income tax as well as corporate tax on the other hand. this reform will change the situation of both companies and households dramatically. it also counts with gradual delegation of minor taxes and fees to the lower level, to communities, which will collect these to relocate resources for projects developing local infrastructure and solution of the ecology related problems. pension reform introduces three - pillar system. the first pay - as - you - go pillar fulfils the role of full merit and the second capitalization pillar fulfills the role of pension savings ; both of which will be obligatory. the third supplementary pillar fulfills the role of additional pension insurance choice. the objective of this reform is to adjust the system to demographic changes and to changing features of the society. this reform is assumed to bring more effective management of the social system in future. healthcare reform aims to solve two main issues. these are introduction of deductibles for health care services. two functions of this measure shall prevent misuse of free healthcare services and collect resources in order to support financial stability of the system. moreover, the reform includes other stabilization measures, which aim to slow down or even stop the sector indebtedness. public finances reform aims to make public finances more transparent as well, introduces strategic planned budgeting and more effective allocation of resources. this reform includes introduction of forecasting systems for stable medium - term framework of public finances. all these and other introduced and planned reforms are structured in detail, timed and co - organized with all other important economic interventions as well as with ability to comply with maastricht criteria, especially budget deficit. 3. internal stability b ) fiscal and monetary consolidation in 2002, the general government deficit amounted to 7. 2 % of gdp,

marian jusko : approaching the euro speech by mr marian jusko, governor of the national bank of slovakia, at the conference " challenges of eu accession ", prague, 1 april 2003. * * * ladies and gentlemen, i welcome the opportunity to address you tonight and i would like to thank the cnb for including me into this panel, where i can speak and discuss the most challenging and demanding topic, which is the emu accession. we all, central bankers, know that the main role will not be played by us, but crucial will be the decision and actual steps of national governments. let me present the views and approach of the national bank of slovakia, which, however, cannot be considered as the official statement of the slovak republic. nowadays, there is the joint strategy of the central bank and the government under preparation, which will be approved by the slovak government in the second quarter and which will also be a part of our pep ( pre - accession economic programme ). the intention here is to officially announce the term of our preparedness for examination, which also serves as the yardstick and anchor for all our current and future decisions. the general approach of the nbs, which can be slightly ( in terms of its schedule ) modified by our government, is the earliest possible approach towards the euro adoption and emu membership. at the same time, we prefer the shortest possible membership in the erm ii mechanism. the main idea behind the formulation of the earliest possible strategy of emu accession is our belief that slovakia may enter the emu earlier, but must not become a member of the eurozone later than other associated countries. this is based on our latest experience, when we were treated as an outsider in the second wave of the eu, oecd and nato enlargement, with a long lasting effect on fdi inflows, costs of debt service and the overall macroeconomic development. i do not want to bother you with all these well - known and clear reasons for entering the emu, which are, above all, the savings on transaction costs and a decline in the exchange rate volatility and exchange rate risk. this is extremely important for slovakia with its high level of openness. the share of exports and imports of goods and services in gdp increased to 156. 5 % in 2001 from 117. 3 % in 1993, while 60 % of exports and 50 % of imports were related to eu countries in 2001. after including the cec5, these