ŠÚSR releases full 1998 forecasts

The Slovak Statistical Office (ŠÚSR) forecast on June 29 that Slovakia's average nominal wages would grow by 10.0% annually in 1998, down from 13.1% last year. Real industrial production was forecast to grow by 3.8% in 1998 compared to a 2.0% growth in 1997, while construction output was seen rising by a real 16.1% versus 8.6% in 1997. A week earlier, ŠÚSR said that 1998 inflation would be 7.5% compared to 6.4% in 1997 and that the 1998 GDP would decline to 6.3% from 6.5% last year.