THE NATIONAL Bank of Slovakia (NBS), Slovakia’s central bank, has made a major change in its prediction for economic growth in Slovakia for 2012. While its previous prediction was for growth in gross domestic product (GDP) of 3.8 percent, the most recent prognosis forecasts growth of only 2.3 percent, the SITA newswire wrote on December 13.
“The deceleration of economic growth will continue in 2012, mostly due to declining foreign demand,” said NBS governor Jozef Makúch, as quoted by the TASR newswire, adding that this lowered demand is likely to affect Slovakia’s economy primarily in the first and second quarters of 2012.
The central bank’s forecast confirmed expectations by many bank analysts who have written that Slovakia cannot expect to experience strong economic growth next year because of uncertainty in European and global financial markets, SITA wrote.
The NBS expects GDP growth to increase slightly in 2013 compared to 2012, providing the eurozone debt crisis does not deepen.
The NBS now forecasts 3.5-percent growth in GDP in 2013, although this is down from its previous prediction of 5.1 percent.
