According to a report by the European Commission on the economic situation in central and eastern European countries released on April 2, there is anxiety over the rapid growth of the Slovak economy, which could lead to its overheating and consequently threaten the good results of its anti-inflation policy. The most uneasy factors are worsening of the country's balance of payments, combined with a larger planned government budget deficit for this year. The NBS faces this development with an increasingly stricter monetary policy, the report said.
The uneasiness stems also from the weak export ability of the Slovak economy, which seems to be very sensitive to a growth slowdown in west European countries. One of the reasons for the stagnation of economic restructuring is a lasting scarcity of investment funds. The EC recommends a focus on economic restructuring, reengineering of the financial sector, and a serious effort by Slovakia to attract direct foreign investment.
