(Adds quotes from PM, analyst)
By Peter Laca
BRATISLAVA, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Slovak lawmakers approved a bigger 2009 budget deficit on Friday than originally planned as the global financial crisis hits the country's finances in the first year of its euro zone membership.
The budget sets the public finance deficit target at 2.1 percent of gross domestic product, compared an originally proposed 1.7 percent, due to slower economic growth.
"This is a budget with which we are protecting Slovakia and its citizens from the impact of the global economic crisis," Prime Minister Robert Fico said after the vote.
The 2009 budget gap target is below the formal ceiling of 2.3 percent set for 2008, which is the expected deficit this year after the government said it would not meet the 2.0 percent limit that it adopted in the spring to secure euro adoption.
Analysts said Slovakia, which will remain one of the fastest growing economies in the European Union, could make a deeper deficit cut. Some economists saw risks that revenues may fall short of projection and lead to even a bigger gap.
The budget was approved by 82 deputies in the 150-seat assembly, with 56 voting against the bill and 1 abstaining. The rest of the MPs did not take part in the vote.
Budget approval came one day after Standard & Poor's raised its sovereign ratings on Slovakia to "A+" from "A", saying the continued improvement in the country's economic competitiveness would be supported by its 2009 entry into the euro zone.
Slovakia has been largely shielded from the direct impact of the crisis and the EU has singled it out as one of the few economies that will ride out the crisis relatively well.
But the small and open economy, which depends heavily on exports of cars and electronics goods, will be hurt by consumer spending cuts in its main western markets.
BUDGET RISKS
The government cut its 2009 GDP growth forecast to 4.6 percent from an original 6.5 percent after the global financial crisis escalated in September.
It has agreed the state will not cut expenditure to compensate for the resulting lower revenues but rather widen the deficit, partly to fulfil pledges of bigger welfare spending.
Central bank Governor, Ivan Sramko, has said a wider deficit was acceptable if it helped the economy better withstand the global financial crisis.
However, Sramko has cautioned that revenues may be lower than planned because the cabinet projected one-off income from changes in the pension system.
The government expects some 150,000 people to cancel their private pension accounts and return to the pay-as-you-go system.
This should cut the gap in the state-run pension scheme and free money in the state budget, which the cabinet already allocated for spending next year.
Apart from the one-off income, analysts also saw risks of even slower GDP growth, which could reduce budget revenues.
"If the economic development is worse, then I am worried that the government will not be able to adjust its expenditure to meet the already increased deficit (target)," said Juraj Valachy, an analyst at Tatra Banka in Bratislava. (Additional reporting by Martin Santa; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)