The Slovak economy grew by 3 percent in the first quarter of this year. The Slovak Statistics Office (ŠÚ) reported the result on Wednesday, June 6, and thus slightly - by 0.1 percentage points - revised downward its flash estimate of GDP growth reported last month. Nevertheless, the Slovak economy maintained a sound momentum from last year, when its growth for the full year was 3.3 percent. In a quarterly comparison, after seasonal adjustment, the real gross domestic product grew by 0.7 percent.
At current prices, the GDP in the first quarter of this year rose by 4.4 percent. In financial terms, the volume of GDP in Q1 reached €16.556 billion. Compared to the first quarter of 2011, however, the dynamics of GDP growth slipped by 0.4 percent. According to the ŠÚ, this can be particularly attributed to a notable slowdown in external demand.
The growth figures for the first three months of 2012 were a surprise for bank analysts after the flash estimate was published. They estimated in March that the economy in Q1 would only grow by 1.5 percent. After a series of positive data, they updated their forecasts to 1.8 percent, but the actual outcome was significantly better. The data for the first quarter forced banks to increase their growth forecasts for the entire year to nearly 2 percent. The European Commission predicts similar growth in the Slovak economy, the SITA newsiwre wrote. In May, it revised its estimate to 1.8 percent. This would mean that the Slovak economy this year would grow the fastest among the euro area countries. The Slovak Finance Ministry currently expects growth this year at 2.3 percent and the central bank at 2.1 percent.
Source: SITA
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
