THE NATIONAL Bank of Slovakia (NBS) again intervened on the currency market on June 18, spending an estimated 100 million euros to bring the Slovak crown back up to 44.5SKK/EUR, a level it has said is satisfactory.
After 18 months of inactivity, the NBS has intervened three times in the last fortnight to defend the crown against a strong weakening trend in the run-up to national elections in September.
The crown has dropped almost eight per cent from its April record high against the euro, its reference currency, amid fears over loose fiscal policy and approaching elections.
In that time, however, the central bank has recovered the Sk4.1 billion it had lost between January 1 and May 20, ending May with a profit for the year of Sk1.5 billion as the weakened crown increased the value of its foreign currency reserves.
