SLOVAKIA should finish second in the eurozone with economic growth of 2 percent in 2013, according to a European Commission autumn prognosis for GDP growth in the EU between 2012 and 2014 published on November 7, the TASR newswire reported.
Only Estonia is forecast to fare better, with 3.1 percent growth.
Even though the short-term outlook for the EU economy remains fragile, 2013 should see a gradual return to GDP growth before further strengthening expected in 2014.
On an annual basis, GDP is set to shrink by 0.3 percent in the EU as a whole and by 0.4 percent in the eurozone in 2012. Economic growth for 2013 is predicted to reach 0.4 percent in the EU and 0.1 percent in the eurozone.
“The large internal and external imbalances that built up in the pre-crisis years are being reduced, but this process continues to weigh on domestic demand in some countries, and economic activity diverges significantly across member states,” the EC wrote as reported by TASR.
2014 is expected to see growth in the EU of 1.6 percent and of 1.4 percent in the eurozone. Slovakia’s economic growth in 2014 is projected at 3 percent. The jobless rate is predicted to be just below 11 percent in the EU and 12 percent in the eurozone in 2013, but considerable variations between individual member states are anticipated. Slovakia’s unemployment rate in 2013 is expected to be the fifth highest (13.5 percent) in the EU.
