According to the latest medium-term estimate by the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS), the country's central bank, the Slovak economy will grow by 3.2 percent this year, NBS governor Jozef Makúch told the TASR newswire on March 30. The NBS's previous estimate in December stated that the Slovak economy would grow by 3.1 percent after a contraction of almost 5 percent in 2009.
The central bank is more optimistic than the Finance Ministry, which is currently predicting a 2.8-percent improvement this year. Makúch added that growth in all segments of GDP is expected. Negative developments in the labour market are predicted to continue, however, with a hope of some improvement only at the end of the year. According to the NBS, consumer prices will be influenced by milder inflation at the beginning of 2010, which will lead to a slower growth in average prices (0.7 percent) than foreseen in December 2009 (1.2 percent). The public-finance deficit tripled in 2009 year-on-year to reach 6.3 percent of GDP. The government has promised to cut the deficit to 5.5 percent this year.
Source: 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.
