Slovakia's newly appointed Prime Minister Robert Fico attends the new cabinet's inauguration, at the Presidential Palace in Bratislava, Slovakia, October 25, 2023. The programme promised a special tax on banking profits and measures to cut interest rates on mortgages. The programme also set out plans for increasing tax levels for higher earners, on real estate -- especially second and third homes -- and on alcohol and tobacco. The goal is to help fund a slow consolidation of the public budget as the budget gap is expected to be nearly 7% of gross domestic product. ($1 = 0.9373 euros)Reporting by Jan Lopatka in Prague, Editing by Timothy HeritageOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Persons: Slovakia's, Robert Fico, Radovan Stoklasa, Fico, Erik Tomas, Jan Lopatka, Timothy Organizations: REUTERS, Ukraine, European, Social, European Union, Timothy Heritage, Thomson Locations: Bratislava, Slovakia, European Union, Ukraine, Prague