Analysts working for commercial banks became more optimistic about the economy in February, improving their estimates of economic growth for 2010 to 2.6 percent, up by 0.5 percentage points from January, according to the latest macroeconomic predictions by selected banks published by the Slovak central bank (NBS) and reported by the TASR newswire.
Analysts have not changed their expectations for price growth, still expecting inflation as measured by EU methodology to average 1.5 percent for 2010.
The Finance Ministry and NBS are also counting on a recovery in the country's economy after last-year's slump of 4.7 percent. The ministry anticipates 2.8 percent growth in 2010, while NBS is even more optimistic, foreseeing a 3.1 percent increase.
According to a recent flash estimate by the Slovak Statistics Office, gross domestic product (GDP) dropped by 2.7 percent year-on-year in the final quarter of 2009 but it grew by 2 percent compared to the previous quarter.
NBS stated that the Slovak economy performed slightly better than expected in the final quarter of 2009. Overall economic developments last year also exceeded original estimates by a small margin - NBS predicted a 4.9 percent contraction while the Finance Ministry had expected a 4.8 percent slump. TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
