Slovakia

Slovakia (Slovak: Slovensko) is a landlocked republic in Central Europe. It borders the Czech Republic in the northwest, Poland in the north, Ukraine in the east, Hungary in the south, and Austria in the southwest.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Slovakia

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Slovakia has mastered much of the difficult transition from a centrally planned economy to a modern market economy. The Slovak government made progress in 2001 in macroeconomic stabilisation and structural reform. Major privatisations are nearly complete, the banking sector is almost completely in foreign hands, and foreign investment has picked up. Slovakia's economy exceeded expectations in the early 2000s, despite recession in key export markets.

Related Topics:
2001 - Privatisation - Banking - Recession

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Revival of domestic demand in 2002, partly due to a rise in real wages, offset slowing export growth to help drive the economy to its strongest expansion since 1998. Solid domestic demand boosted economic growth to 4.4 percent in 2002. Strong export growth, in turn, pushed economic growth to a still-strong 4.2 percent in 2003, despite a downturn in household consumption.

Related Topics:
1998 - Economic growth - 2002 - 2003

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Unemployment, rising from 14.9 percent at the end of 1998 to 19.2 percent at the end of 2001 (seasonally adjusted harmonised rate) during the radical reforms introduced by the Slovak government since 1999, decreased again to 12.7 percent (March 2005).

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Inflation dropped from an average annual rate of 12.0 percent in 2000 to just 3.3 percent in the election year 2002, but it rose again in 2003-2004 due to necessary increases in taxes and regulated prices. Nonetheless, CPI fell below 3 percent in 2005.

Related Topics:
Inflation - CPI

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Slovakia would like to adopt the Euro currency in January 2009, although the public sector deficit needs to be cut in the draft budget from its current 3.8 percent of GDP to below 3 percent in order for this to be possible.

Related Topics:
Euro - 2009 - GDP

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In a survey of the German Chamber of Commerce held in March 2004, as much as 50 percent of German enterpreneurs chose Slovakia as the best place for investment.

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