Public debt totalled 15.7 percent of GDP in 2006, while the figure for the EU as a whole reached 62.5 percent, according to data from the European Central Bank (ECB) published on July 9.
Along with other countries in Central and Eastern Europe, Slovakia has a relatively low ratio of debt, including mortgages. At the same time, the ECB data shows that year-on-year percentage debt increases between 2001-06 in new EU-member states were significantly higher than in the EU15. While the average year-on-year debt increase in the EU25 in the first half of 2006 was 9 percent, the figure for Slovakia was 51 percent, while Slovenia recorded 69 percent. The rise in credit in Slovakia is largely due to improved living standards, the construction boom, and a wider range of credit on offer. TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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