BRATISLAVA, November 4, (WEBNOVINY) — Expectations from an update of Slovakia’s official macroeconomic forecasts for next year were fulfilled. In its latest update, the Ministry of Finance reduced the estimated growth of the Slovak economy next year from the original 3.4 percent to 1.7 percent. The previous update of expected of economic development was in August, when the Finance Ministry slashed the GDP growth forecast by one percentage point from the original 4.4 percent.
The Finance Ministry also acknowledges that this significantly slower economic growth will mean a revenue shortfall in the budget of about 480 million euros. This number, however, would only be definitively confirmed after a meeting of the tax committee and its tax revenue forecast to be published at the end of next week, which should quantify estimated revenue shortfall due to changes in legislation. ň
„Turbulence on financial markets and the resulting uncertainty worsen the economic outlook of the euro area, including Germany, which must necessarily be reflected in the development of the Slovak economy. We must assume that growth in Germany can completely stop or even slightly contract in the fourth quarter of this year and the first quarter of next year. Therefore, the Financial Policy Institute proceeded to repeatedly revise downward the forecast economic growth in 2012 to 1.7 percent,“ the Ministry of Finance’s institute justifies the update.
SITA
