BRATISLAVA, February 15, (WEBNOVINY) – Slovak economy should rebound to its pre-crisis maximum already in the first quarter of this year, claims the Financial Policy Institute at the Finance Ministry in reaction to the flash estimate of the GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2010 released by the Statistics Office on Tuesday. The economy rose 0.9 percent in quarter-on-quarter comparison and 3.5 percent in year-on-year terms. “Slovak economy has almost eliminated the losses it suffered during the global economic crisis. The economy performance will exceed the level of pre-crisis boom in the first quarter of this year,” reads the report by the ministry’s institute.
With a 3.5-percent y/y economic growth in Q4 2010, Slovakia maintains its position of one of the fastest growing economies within the European Union. Together with bank analysts, the Financial Policy Institute also views industry as the major driving force of the economy. “Within services, car sale, transport, warehousing and selected market services should have pro-growth effects. The institute estimates that on the side of expenditures, investments, stock renewal and foreign demand dominated among key factors behind the achieved growth. Consumption however has not recovered yet,” stated the report.
According to the institute, first estimate of the employment development at the end of last year was a pleasant surprise. The development of the number of employed people rebounded from the bottom. Employment net of seasonal effects measured in a sample survey increased by 0.3 percent compared with Q3 and rose by 0.5 percent in y/y comparison. “Institute of the Financial Policy estimated a milder growth at 0.1 percent y/y in its FEbruary prognosis. Thus for the whole year of 2010 the employment rate fell by 1.4 percent, while the institute estiamted a 1.5-percent fall,” added the institute in its report.
SITA
