DUE to wrongly assessed 2003 figures on Slovakia's foreign trade, the Slovak crown radically dropped from Sk40.70 to Sk40.91 against the euro.
Statistical data on Slovakia's foreign trade for the last four months of 2003 were incorrect. "The exports were most probably overrated by Sk14 billion (€343.94 million)," chairman of the Slovak Statistics Office Peter Mach told the daily SME.
However, the Statistics Office claims that the revision of Slovak exports for 2003 will not necessarily modify data on Slovakia's GDP growth for first nine months of last year. The extent of the revision should keep within 1.75 percent of the total amount of Slovak exports, the office said.
The original January-November data showed Slovakia's exports growing by 23.6 percent year-on-year to a total of Sk739.9 billion (€18.18 billion).
On January 29, the SME daily reported that last year's foreign trade results were probably boosted by incorrect statistics, citing an anonymous source that claimed that figures indicating the strong growth of exports were exaggerated.
Compiled by Beata Balogová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
