BRATISLAVA, December 13, (WEBNOVINY) — The National Bank of Slovakia (NBS) has revised downward its estimate of Slovakia’s economic growth next year. According to the latest prognosis, the central bank expects gross domestic product to grow at 2.3 percent, while in the previous prognosis it estimated growth of 3.8 percent. This confirmed expectations presented by bank analysts and other relevant institutions in the past weeks that given the current deepening of the debt crisis, economic growth from the latest central bank’s prognosis was unrealistic. The central bank also revised its GDP growth estimate in 2013 from the original 5.1 percent to 3.5 percent.
Recent weeks were marked by a gradual deterioration of economic growth estimates. In November, banks predicted GDP growth at 1.5 percent, but some bank analysts have already revised their prognosis further down and even do not rule out a return of a recession. According to the most recent prognosis of the European Commission, Slovakia’s GDP will grow by 1.1 percent next year, while the Finance Ministry predicts 1.7-percent, down from previous estimate of 3.4 percent.
Last year, the Slovak economy grew by 4 percent from the crisis downturn in 2009.
SITA
