Slovakia will cut its fiscal deficit below the European Union's threshold next year as pledged, the leftist leader Robert Fico, mandated to form a new cabinet, said on Sunday.
Fico, a former prime minister, said his government, to be presented by April 4, will raise taxes for rich individuals and corporates from January as part of an austerity package designed to safeguard the euro zone country's fiscal plan.
Fico swept to a landslide victory in a March 10 election, winning an outright majority in parliament to succeed a reformist centre-right government led by Iveta Radicova which collapsed in October. Slovakia's ability to deliver on fiscal pledges is vital to investor confidence following downgrades by Standard and Poor's to 'A' in January and by Moody's to 'A2' in February, mainly due to impact of the euro zone debt crisis.