Slovak economy should grow 3.1-percent next year

Slovakia's economy is expected to grow by 3.3 percent this year, while next year growth should slow down to 3.1 percent. However, in 2018 it should accelerate again to 4.2 percent and then to 4.6 percent in 2019, according to the latest medium-term forecast presented by the Slovak central bank (NBS) on Tuesday. "According to the current information on the economy's development in the third quarter, there is a more significant slump in investments than estimated, which is caused mainly by the higher base effect of EU funds drawing last year. As a result, there will be a temporary slowdown in GDP growth this year as well as next year," NBS Governor Jozef Makuch told a news conference on Tuesday. NBS included the development of oil prices in its latest prognosis, which are slowly growing, and the development of foreign demand, which will mainly decrease in 2017 and 2018. However, Slovakia's economic growth should be positively influenced by domestic demand and increased exports, mainly thanks to automotive industry production, according to NBS.