THE MOOD of Slovak companies and consumers fell by 2.4 percentage points in August month-on-month and reached its lowest level since the beginning of this year. Slovakia recorded worse results in economic sentiment only during the economic crisis in 2008 and 2009, the Hospodárske Noviny daily reported.
“The worse mood has been supported by the bad situation in financial markets,” said Poštová Banka analyst Eva Sadovská, as quoted by the daily, adding that people and companies are also scared of the word “crisis”, which is becoming more frequent.
UniCredit Bank analyst Vladimír Zlacký added that economic sentiment could worsen further when upcoming GDP growth figures are announced for the biggest European economies.
The only sector where the mood is better is industry, where producers expect increased production of computers, electronics and cars. However, KIA Motors Slovakia spokesperson Dušan Dvořák said that his company’s production would depend on developments in world markets.
The optimism of Slovak companies grew from 2009 until the beginning of this year, when the ruling coalition's austerity measures came into force.
Zlacký commented that Slovakia had to pass the measures; otherwise the financial markets would have punished Slovakia and would have listed it as a country with debt problems.
