EC lowers forecast for Slovakia's economic growth this year

In its latest economic forecast the European Commission lowered its estimate for Slovakia's GDP growth this year to 2.9 percent compared to the autumn prognosis of a 3.2 percent growth, according to the TASR press agency. "The modest slowing of GDP growth masks a sharp turn in Slovakia's investment cycle in 2016, in which EU-funded investment fell at the start of the new programming period. While public investment contracted particularly sharply in 2016, so too did import growth due to the high import intensity of fixed investment in Slovakia. Coupled with a solid rise in exports, this generated a strong positive contribution of net exports to GDP growth, which was bolstered further by faster growth in household consumption," stated the European Commission.