Bratislava  - Slovakia Monday announced an increased national budget deficit for next year because of the world economic crisis - but said that figure would still be within the limit of 3 per cent of gross national product set for introducing the euro in January.

The deficit would be increased from 1.7 per cent to 2.08 per cent of GNP, Social Democrat Prime Minister Robert Fico said.

Despite the increase, Slovakia would still have the lowest deficit in its history, he stressed. The increase was needed in order to have enough reserves to deal with the economic crisis, he said.

There was agreement with the centre-right coalition partners that the Slovakian population should not have to put up with worsening social conditions as a result of money being mismanaged elsewhere in the world, he said.

The new budget would be presented to parliament in the next few days, where it was expected to be approved without difficulty, as all three coalition partners had given it their blessing. (dpa)