Slovakia’s GDP grows by 2.5pc in Q2 year-on-year

BRATISLAVA, Aug 15 (Xinhua) : Slovakia's GDP grew by 2.5 per cent in the second quarter of 2014 compared to the same period of last year, the Slovak Statistics Office announced in a preliminary estimate yesterday.

According to Slovak analysts, the household demand was the chief driving force behind this economic growth.  "This is the fastest growth since the first quarter of 2012," stressed J&T Bank analyst Stanislav Panis.  Panis also said that an easing up in the consolidation of public finances was also a factor, with growing consumption among public administration acting as a growth incentive.  As for the months ahead, it's difficult to judge what will happen, and GDP growth will be influenced by developments in the eurozone and in the countries that are Slovakia's chief export partners.

"Thanks to continued improvements on the labour market, it's possible that domestic demand will further increase its rate of growth and will compensate for the expected slowdown in foreign demand," said VUB bank chief economist Zdenko Stefanides.  The economic growth in Slovakia was expected to reach 2.2 per cent for the whole of 2014.